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COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



A JUNIOR HISTORY 

OF 

THE UNITED STATES 



BY 

J. W. GIBSON 

AUTHOR OF 

A GRAMMAR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
THE CIVIL WAR, ETC. 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



V 



LIBRARY of CON&flESS 
Two Copies Keceive-J 

DEC 30 1907 

Coeyri«ni. tntry 

OLASSA XXc. No, 

COPY B. ' 



Copyright 1907 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 






INTEODUCTION 



This volume has for its purpose the laying of a foundation for 
more thorough work at a later period. 

That part of United States history which most appeals to the 
young mind has been selected. Story, biography, geography and 
literature have been woven into the narrative; and yet the mind 
is led in proper and continuous order from the beginning to the 
end. 

The book is a semi-reader, or may be made so. But a word 
of warning may be necessary. We learn to read by reading. The 
student's mind should be directed to the subject matter, and not 
to the mere expression of the thought. In making use of the 
boek as a reader, do not forget that it is a history first, and 
secondly a reader. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 3 

CHAPTER I 
Period of Great Discoveries 7 

CHAPTER II 
Spanish Exploration and Settlement 32 

CHAPTER III 
The American Indian 46 

CHAPTER IV 
The Beginnings of the United States 56 

CHAPTER V 
Settlement of New England 70 

CHAPTER VI 
The Dutch in America 94 

CHAPTER VII 
The Middle and Southern Colonies 109 

CHAPTER VIII 
The French in the North and West 122 

CHAPTER IX 

The Franklin Period 136 

5 



6 conte:nts 

PAGE 

CHAPTEE X 
The French and Indian War 149 

CHAPTER XI 
George Washington 153 

CHAPTEE XII 
The War of the Eevolution 164 

CHAPTEE XIII 
Thomas Jefferson 189 

CHAPTEE XIV 
Westward Exploration and Settlement 198 

CHAPTEE XV 
The War of 1812 210 

CHAPTEE XVI 
Inventions 218 

CHAPTEE XVII 
Territorial Growth of the United States 229 

CHAPTEE XVIII 
Abraham Lincoln 242 

CHAPTEE XIX 
The Civil War 252 

CHAPTEE XX 
Growth of the Great West 276 

CHAPTEE XXI 
Eecent Events in Our History 289 



THE UNITED STATES 



CHAPTER I 

PERIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 

1. The Mediterranean Sea. The word Mediterranean is from 
two Latin words, one meaning middle, and the other earth. The 
general meaning is mid-land. On examining the map it will be 
seen that the Mediterranean Sea is correctly named. For many 
centuries most of the civilized nations of the world were grouped 
around this great inland sea. The sea itself, by its commerce, 
helped to civilize the people living near it. 

2. Egypt. More than four thousand years ago Egypt was a 
civilized country. Those great pyramids near the Nile River have 
been there so many, many years that no one knows just when they 
were built. 

It was into this country that Joseph was sold, and he was later 
made its governor, next in power to the king himself. It was 
from Egypt that Moses, three thousand four hundred years ago, led 
the children of Israel into their promised land, Palestine. 

3. Palestine, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, was 
the home of the Jewish people. From this race the world gets the 
Bible and the Christian religion. 

4. Oreece. To the west of Palestine, on islands and penin- 
sulas, lies Greece. From the Greeks the world receives its most 
perfect ideals of beauty, and the highest forms of culture and art. 
,We are still students of the Greeks. 

7 



8 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



The Greek poet Homer gave us that wonderful poem called the 
Iliad, in which he sings of the siege and capture of Troy. In an- 
other poem he describes the wanderings of Ulysses and his com- 
panions. From Homer and other Greek poets we learn those 
strange stories of the Greek gods and heroes. 

5. Rome. A little to the west of Greece, on the north shore 
of the Mediterranean, we find the Italian peninsula. This was the 




^^--.-^T 






THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 



home of the Eoman people, who spoke the Latin language. About 
thirty years before the birth of Christ, after centuries of warfare, 
Rome had conquered all the other nations bordering on the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. She was then known as the Eoman Empire. 

Rome taught all nations the science of government and the art 
of governing. 

6. Our Debt. It will be seen from what has been said that 
we are indebted to the Egyptian, the Jew, the Greek and the Roman 



PEEIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 




for the beginnings of most of the good things we now have. But 
it took three thousand years to bring about the conditions of our 
own times. A full study of the steps taken to gain what we now 
have is called history. 

EXERCISE ON MAP OF MEDITERRANEAN SEA 

Where is Egypt in relation to the Mediterranean Sea? What 
river runs through Egypt ? Egypt never has any rain ; what, then, 
makes it fertile? Where is Palestine? Jerusalem? The Dead 
Sea? In what direction from Egypt is Palestine? Egypt is on 
what continent? Palestine? Italy? How many continents bor- 
der on this sea? Locate Eome, Venice, Genoa. For what are we in- 
debted to the Greeks ? TotheEomans? To the Jews? What lan- 
guage did the Eomans speak ? 

7. The Germans. Eome was a large and powerful country, 
and for a long time ruled the world. But she became very wicked 



10 JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

and weak, so weak that the Germans, who lived north of Italy, 
came over the mountains called the Alps and conquered her. The 
Germans at that time were only partly civilized. What learning 
they received from the Eomans was soon lost. For a long, long 
time after the fall of Rome all Europe was in a dreadful state of 
confusion and war. A part of this time, the worst part, is called 
the Dark Ages. 

8. The Italian Cities and Commerce. During the latter part 
of this dark period the cities of Genoa and Venice, in Italy, became 
very rich and prosperous and powerful through their trade with 
other parts of Europe and Asia. For several hundred years these 
cities owned all the ships that sailed on the Mediterranean Sea, 
and carried all the merchandise that passed between Europe and 
Asia. We shall soon learn about some great men who were born 
in these cities. These men were famous sailors, because they and 
their parents, and their grandparents, and their great-great-great- 
grandparents had been brought up on the sea. 

9. The Printing-Press. After the night comes the morning. 
So it was in history at the end of the fifteenth century. During 
the life of Columbus Europe seems to have been like an early 
June morning when Nature awakens from her winter sleep and 
the forests are alive with the song of birds and fragrant with the 
perfume of flowers. 

At this time the printing-press was invented, and soon it was 
used in all parts of Europe for publishing books and other forms 
of printed matter. Before the use of the printing-press all books 
had to be copied with a pen, one at a time. This made them very 
expensive, and only a few rich people could afford to own them. 
Even kings and princes were unable to write, and some of them 
could not even read. The common people were all very ignorant ; 
they had no knowledge of books. But the printing-press made 
reading-matter cheap, and gradually the common people became in- 
telligent through the study and reading of books. 



PEEIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 



11 




10. The Mariner's Compass. Before the mariner's compass 
was invented a sailor, when out of sight of land, could not tell 
which was north, south, east or west unless he could see the sun, 
moon or stars. In cloudy weather he was lost. But the needle of 
the compass always points to the 

north, or nearly so. In the darkest 
night a sailor may know exactly in 
what direction his ship is moving by 
watching the compass. Without the 
aid of this little instrument no ship 
could cross the great oceans in safety. 
The compass had been invented and 
had come into general use a little be- 
fore the invention of the printing- 
press. 

You can make a mariner's com- 
pass yourself. Magnetize a fair-sized 
sewing needle by rubbing it on a 

magnet. Suspend the needle by an untwisted string from a bent 
rod,* and let the needle take its own direction. Note the result. 
Perhaps some one among you has a little pocket compass. 

11. The Discovery of America, in 1492, with many other in- 
fluences, brought the beginning of our own age. Thus it will 
be seen that the present era began only about four hundred years 
ago. 

12. Marco Polo. Nearly two hundred years before America 
was discovered three men of Venice went on a long journey to the 
far East. They remained away for many years, and when they 
returned home no one knew them. Their foreign dress, their dark 
skin, their speech and manner made them seem more like Tartars 
of Asia than like Italians, and at first their own relatives would 
not own them. But the travelers soon found a way to make friends. 

♦This rod must not be of iron or steel. 



HOME-MADE COMPASS 



12 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

They invited all their relatives to a grand banquet. "Wlien the 
guests arrived they found the travelers richly dressed in garments 
of crimson satin. Several times during the banquet the three men 
left the room, and each time returned dressed in still richer robes. 
At the close of the banquet the Polos brought out the coarse Tartar 
dresses which they had worn on their return to Venice and ripped 
open the seams and lining. Out rolled diamonds and other gems 
until the table was covered with glittering wealth of untold value. 
This display soon made the Polos famous in Venice. 

"We are not sure that the banquet story is real history, but we 
do know that Marco Polo, the youngest of the three travelers, gave 
the Europeans information that was of more value than all the 
wealth he brought, or could have brought, from the East. 

Soon after the return of the Polos Marco told the story of his 
travels in the rich eastern country, now known as China, Japan, 
India and Farther India. He told the story, and another man 
wrote it and gave it to the world in the form of a book. It was 
the reading of this book that made Columbus wish to find a new 
passage to India, by Avhich name all the country described by Polo 
was then known. 

13. Modern Discovery began shortly before the birth of Co- 
lumbus. The islands of the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and 
Africa had been discovered before the close of the fourteenth cen- 
tury; that is, before the year 1400. Perhaps it woidd be more 
correct to say that they were re-discovered, because some of them 
had been known to the ancient Greeks and Eomans, but had long 
since been forgotten by the Europeans. The islands are now called 
the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde. It is supposed that the Gar- 
den of the Hesperides, of which Greek m5i:hology tells, was one of 
these island groups. Perhaps the story of Hercules and the Apples 
of the Hesperides may be called to mind by the reader. 

14. The Island of the Seven Cities. Long before Columbus 
was born the Arabians crossed over from Africa into Spain and 



PEKIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 13 

conquered a large part of that peninsula. According to an old 
legend, seven Spanish bishops, with a large number of followers, 
at that time escaped from Spain in ships left at Gibraltar by the 
Arabs. They sailed westward, with the hope of making new homes 
on an island supposed to be somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. 

At last by good fortune the wanderers landed on an unknown 
island suitable for a home. Here the bishops burned their ships, 
to prevent their followers from deserting them, and built seven 
cities, one for each bishop. The flight of the bishops is supposed 
to have taken place about 711. 

One day, more than seven hundred years after, a Portuguese 
seaman presented himself before Prince Henry, claiming that he 
had Just returned from an island where the inhabitants spoke the 
Spanish language and were Christians. The inhabitants, he said, 
gathered around him in surprise; they had never before seen a 
ship. They told him they were descendants of a band of Chris- 
tians who had fled from Spain when that country was conquered 
by the Arabians. 

The story caused much excitement in Lisbon. People remem- 
bered the old tradition of the flight of the seven bishops, and con- 
cluded that the island just described must be the one on which the 
bishops had settled, spoken of in those days as the Island of 
Antillia. There was no such island as Antillia, but when Columbus 
discovered the West Indies they were given the name of Antilles; 
they are now known as the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. 

Later, when Yucatan and Mexico were discovered and explored, 
reports were brought to the Spaniards that the inhabitants wore 
cotton clothing; their houses and temples were large and well 
made, and crosses were found among the people. These accounts, 
which were true in part, caused the Spaniards to think they had 
now found Antillia. 

15. Prince Henry of Portugal. About 1470 the Portuguese, 
under Prince Henry, began to try to find a way around Africa, in 



14 



JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 



AtOtHif. 



order to reach India. Each 
expedition that went out 
pushed farther and farther 
south along the coast, until 
finally the Cape of Good 
Hope was reached. 

These expeditions required 
bold, brave men. Even the 
wise men of that time be- 
lieved that the torrid zone 
was "a region of fire, where 
the very waves that beat 
upon the shore boiled under 
the great heat of the sun." 



EXERCISE ON MAP 

What four groups of 
islands lie to the west of 
Europe and Africa? Which 
is the farthest north ? South ? 
West? What body of water 
is west of Europe and Af- 
rica? Where is the Cape of 
Good Hope ? In what direc- 
tion from Spain is Portu- 
gal? Who was Marco Polo? 
Where did he travel ? Eelate the story of his show of wealth. Wliat 
book did he write ? What was its influence upon Columbus ? 

16. Christopher Columbus, or Christoval Colon, as the name 
is written in the Spanish language, was born in Genoa, Italy, about 
the year 1436. He was the son of a wool-comber. To comb wool 
is to prepare it for spinning and weaving. We call it carding the 




WESTERN COAST OF EUROPE AND 
AFRICA 



PERIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 15 

wool, and now do it by machinery. Combing wool was honorable 
work, but some writers have attempted to prove that the father 
of Columbus was of noble birth, believing that it would add honor 
to the name of the great discoverer to have it so. It may be true 
that Christopher Columbus was of noble birth, but the fact could 
not add to his glory. 

It was natural that Columbus, living as he did where ships 
were continually coming and going, should wish to go to sea. We 
have seen that Genoa, his birthplace, was one of the great cities 
of the world; she had been made so by her commerce. We have 
also seen that she and Venice controlled the commerce of the 
Mediterranean Sea. 

Columbus was but fourteen years old when he became a sailor. 
In those days it took a man of courage to sail the seas. Merchants 
often had to fight their way from port to port. Piracy was com- 
mon, and a merchant-ship must always be prepared for battle. 

17. Columbus in Lisbon. About the year 1474 Columbus 
went to Lisbon, drawn there by the fame of Prince Henry. We 
have already learned something of this intelligent, wideawake 
prince. Until this time very little is known of the life of Colum- 
bus. He stayed in Portugal about fifteen years, and while there 
learned a great deal of geography. 

At that time little was known of the earth even by the most 
educated people. Maps and charts were so incorrect that many 
islands and other places that never existed were marked upon them. 
The skill of Columbus as a maker of maps and the correctness 
of his work gave him honor among men of science. 

18. The Portuguese and the Route around Africa. It must 
be remembered that the Portuguese were intent on finding a new 
route to India by sailing around Africa, The return of ships 
from such expeditions, bringing reports of new discoveries, was a 
common event in Lisbon, and served to keep up excitement. 

In the midst of this excitement the idea occurred to Columbus 



16 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

that he would be able to reach India by sailing west. But India 
is east and southeast of Europe. How then could it be reached 
by sailing west?* 

We know that the earth is round like a ball, so it is easy for us 
to understand how this could be; but most of the people then be- 
lieved that the earth was flat, or at least that there was an upper 
and an under side to it — an up and a down. This explains why 
Columbus was not understood. Some who opposed him said : 
*'Who is there so foolish as to believe that there are people on the 
other side of the earth with their feet opposite to ours; people 
walking with their heels upward and their heads hanging down- 
ward ? Who can believe that there is a part of the world in which 
all things are topsy-turvy; where trees grow downward and where 
it rains and snows upward ?" 

It was not strange that the people did not understand about 
these things. No one then knew that the earth is a great magnet, 
drawing everything to it itself; nor that the earth revolves around 
the sun. Let us study about the earth and its movements so that 
we may understand. 

Though Columbus was correct in his belief about the shape of 
the earth, he did not know that the earth revolves around the sun. 
He supposed that it stood still; that all the heavenly bodies re- 
volved each day around it. That is, he believed the earth to be 
the center of all motion. We know that the earth revolves around 
the sun ; that the sun is the center of motion. But who taught us 
about the earth's movements? 

19. Copernicus and His Teachings. While Columbus was at 
Lisbon, a Polish boy named Copernicus was born. When he be- 

*Note. — It would be well at this time to give a globe-lesson in connection 
with this subject. 

By means of any magnet, with iron filings, tacks and the like, the children 
may be made to understand how the earth is a magnet ; why it draws all things 
toward itself ; why bodies fall to the earth ; why one thing weighs more than 
another ; and, with the globe, they may be made to see what is up and what is 
down. Children should at this time be taught the movements of the earth around 
the sun and on its axis : the cause of day and night, the seasons and the like. 
An apple or a ball will answer the purpose if nothing better is at band. 



PEEIOD OF GREAT DISCOVEEIES 



17 



came a man he wrote a book teaching that the earth, the sun, the 
planets and all the other heavenly bodies are globes; that these 
bodies all rotate on their axes from west to east; that the earth 
and the planets revolve around the sun from west to east; that the 
fixed stars are suns like our own, but are so far away that they 
look small and do not seem to move. 

The world is round, and like a ball 

Seems swinging in the air; 
The sky extends around it all, 
And stars are shining there. 




THE EARTH IN SPACE 



18 JUNIOK HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Not until long after the death of Columbus was this book, de- 
scribing the movements of the earth, written. 

20. Galileo. More than a hundred years later a learned Ital- 
ian named Galileo also wrote a book proving that the earth moves. 
But even the educated people would not believe him and made fun 
of his teachings, as they had of those of Copernicus, 

Thus it took a long, long time to teach the people the wonder- 
ful truths about our world. 

To us the heavenly bodies seem to move from east to west 
around the earth every twenty-four hours. We are really moving 
from west to east, which makes the heavenly bodies seem to move 
from east to west. When we whirl along on a railroad train, the 
trees and houses seem to be moving in the opposite direction. We 
say that we see the moon scud through the clouds, but the clouds 
and not the moon do the scudding. So with us, though we seem 
to stand still, we are really whirling along at the rate of a thousand 
miles an hour. But the people of the olden time thought these 
things were as they appeared and could not believe that the earth 
moved. 

21. The Earth a Great Magnet. But if our globe moves so 
rapidly what keeps us from flying off? Another great man. Sir 
Isaac Newton, discovered the reason. He once saw an apple fall 
from a tree on one of his favorite dogs. Like a flash of light he 
caught the idea that the earth is a great magnet which draws 
everything toward its center. 

By this it will be seen that down is toward the earth and up is 
away from it. Those people who laughed at Columbus and said 
there could be no part of the earth "where the people walked with 
their feet upward, and their heads hanging dowoiward," did not 
understand the meaning of up and down. So we needed a Co- 
lumbus to prove that the earth is a sphere ; two other men to teach 
that the earth moves around the sim ; and still another to show that 
the earth pulls everything toward itself. 



PERIOD OF GEEAT DISCOVERIES 19 

22. Columbus in Spain. Prince Henry died and John became 
King of Portugal. Columbus tried to persuade King John to fit 
out an expedition to sail west to find India. Failing in this, he 
went to seek aid from Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen 
of Spain. He received but little encouragement. For six years he 
waited for a chance to tell the king and queen of his plans. But 
they were too busy fighting the Moors to listen to him. 

Columbus now turned to France, where he hoped to receive 
aid. On his way there, on foot and poorly clad, with his little boy 
by his side, he stopped at the gate of a convent and asked for 
bread and water for his child. The prior of the convent, passing 
by, noticed from his air and speech that he was no common man. 

The stranger told his sad story to the prior, who, being a man 
of much learning, was greatly interested in the grandeur of the 
views and plans of Columbus. The prior kept him for a few days 
at the convent while a messenger was sent to the queen, who had 
all along been favorable to Columbus. This prior had once been 
chaplain to the queen, and through his influence Columbus was 
commanded to return to the court of Spain. 

EXERCISE ON COLUMBUS 

Tell of boyhood life of Columbus. What made him love the 
sea? Why were Genoa and Venice great cities? Give a sketch of 
Columbus while at Lisbon. Who was Prince Henry? What were 
the Portuguese seeking to do? Did they finally succeed? How is 
it possible for India to be both east and west of Europe ? Why did 
not the people understand Columbus? Who were the rulers of 
Spain at this time? Which way is up? Down? What was the 
belief about the torrid zone? What is the shape of the earth? 
What two motions has the earth? Did Columbus know that the 
earth moves? \ATiat was his idea about it? "WHiich way does the 
earth move upon its axis ? Explain. Why does an apple fall from 
a tree ? What do we call the pulling force of the earth ? 




COLUMBUS AND THE PRIOR 



PEEIOD OF GEEAT DISCOVEEIES 21 

23. Aid from the King and Clueen. After still further delay 
the queen promised to supply Columbus with money for the expedi- 
tion, even if she must borrow money on her Jewels to do so. For- 
tunately this was not necessary ; but the offer shows her noble char- 
acter. So long as she lived Columbus had a patron and friend. 

Soon at the little port of Palos, whence Columbus was to start, 
all was in a fever of excitement over the preparation for the voyage. 
In due time three vessels were ready. These were very small, so 
small, indeed, that not many people of our time would care to cross 
the ocean in them. 

Three brothers named Pinzon, by their influence and wealth, 
helped very much in the fitting out of this expedition. They also 
went with Columbus on his first voyage. One of the brothers was 
in command of the vessel named the Pinta and another had charge 
of the Niiia. The largest vessel, the Santa Maria, was commanded 
by Columbus himself. 

24. The First Voyage. Friday morning, August 13, 1492, 
Columbus began his famous voyage. At the Canary Islands he 
was detained for three weeks in repairing the Pinta. When she 
was ready the three ships sailed directly west into the unknown 
sea. "On losing sight of the last trace of land, the hearts of the 
crews failed them. It seemed to them like leaving the world. 
Behind was everything dear to the heart of man — country, family, 
friends, life itself — before them, all was peril and mystery. Many 
of the rugged seamen shed tears. Most of them had been pressed 
into service against their will." They were in a condition to be 
frightened at everything new or strange. 

When they learned that the needle of the compass did not point 
in the same direction that it did at home, Columbus, in order to 
quiet their fears, thought out an explanation. We now know that 
the needle varies in different parts of the earth; but this was the 
first that even Columbus knew of it. His explanation satisfied 
them, though it was not correct. 



22 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The steady-blowing northeast trade winds, delightful in them- 
selves as they wafted the little fleet in the direction it wanted to 
go, became a terror to them. They feared they never could return 
against such a wind. But fortunately one day the wind changed 



THE PINTA 

its direction for a few hours; this encouraged them for a time, as 
it proved that the wind did not always blow in the same direction. 
Westward, ever westward, day after day, night after night, 
sailed Columbus and his companions; farther and farther from 
home the troubled sailors were driven. They imagined all kinds 
of new terrors, until it became almost impossible for Columbus to 
calm their fears. Even the promise of great reward in the form of 
wealth and honor did not quiet them. How would it all end ? 



PERIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 23 

25. Signs of Land. When they were almost in despair signs 
of land began to appear. The ships were visited by several birds, 
some of which were of a kind usually seen about orchards and 
groves. They came singing in the morning and flew away in the 
evening. Their songs cheered the hearts of the weary sea-wander- 
ers, because they knew that the smaller birds were not able to 
fly far from land, and the songs of these birds showed that they 
were not weary. 

Columbus had continued to sail directly west until by the flight 
of the birds he was led to the southwest. The air grew sweet and 
fragrant. Still the crews wanted to turn homeward. Columbus 
felt that gentle words would no longer answer his purpose. He 
now told them that it was useless for them to complain; he pro- 
posed to push westward until he found India. "He was now at 
open defiance with his men, and his position was desperate." For- 
tunately for him the very next day there were so many signs that 
land was near that the men could no longer doubt. 

"A branch of thorns and berries, recently separated from a 
tree, floated by them; they picked up a reed, a small board, and, 
more than all, a carved staff. All gloom and mutiny now gave way 
to joyful expectation. 

"The breeze had been fresh all day, and they had made great 
progress. At sunset they were plowing the waves at a rapid rate, 
the Pinta, as usual, keeping the lead, from her better sailing quali- 
ties. Not an eye was closed that night. About ten o'clock Co- 
lumbus thought he saw a light. At two in the the morning a gun 
from the Pinta gave the joyful signal of land." 

26. The Landing. An island, one of a group of the Bahamas 
east of Florida, was now in sight only a few miles away. The new 
world was first seen by Columbus, October 12, 1492. 

"As the day dawned, Columbus saw before him a level island 
covered with trees like an orchard. The natives were seen coming 
from all parts of the woods and running to the shore." 



24 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Columbus started for the shore in his own boat, richly dressed 
in scarlet, and bearing the flag of Spain. Martin Alonzo Pinzon 
and his brother put off, each in his own boat. Columbus was de- 
lighted with the purity of the air, the crystal sea, and the beauty 
of the vegetation. 

"On landing he threw himself on his knees, kissed the earth 
and returned thanks to God with tears of joy. All followed his 
example. Columbus, then rising, drew his sword, showed the royal 
standard, and in the name of the Spanish rulers named the island 
San Salvador." 

He was now ruler of the new country, as the king had agreed 
to make him admiral of all the country he discovered. The sailors 
were very joyful at their good fortune. 

When at dawn of day the natives of the island saw the ships 
they thought they were monsters which had come out of the deep 
during the night. "When they saw the boats coming to the shore, 
and strange beings clad in glittering steel armor and splendid dress 
standing upon the beach, they fled to the woods. Gradually they 
returned. During the ceremonies of taking possession they re- 
mained gazing in timid wonder at the complexion, the beards, the 
shining armor and dress of the Spaniards. When they had still 
further recovered from their fears they came to the Spaniards, 
touched their beards, examined their hands and faces. They now 
supposed that the ships had sailed from the skies above on their 
great wings." 

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA* 

Columbus on the lonesome deck 

Keeps watch at dead of night, 
Searching with anxious eyes the dark; 
What sees he far away? A spark, 

A little glimmering light. 

*Pablished by permission of the aathor. 



PERIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 25 

Then boomed the Pinta's signal gun! 

The first that ever broke 
The silence of a world. That sound, 
Echoing to savage depths profound, 

A continent awoke. 

Wild joy possessed each sailor's breast, 

When day revealed a rich 
And fruitful island, fair and green. 
Where naked savages were seen 

Running along the beach. 

The boat is manned, and toward the land 

Swift fly the flashing oars. 
High at the prow the admiral, 
In princely garb, superb and tall. 

Surveys the savage shores. 

They touched the strand, he stepped to land, 

And knelt and kissed the sod, 
With all his followers. Amazed, 
Far off the painted red men gazed, 

Believing him a god. 

Then up rose he, and solemnly. 

With bright sword drawn, advanced 
The standard of the King and Queen; 
On its rich sheen of gold and green. 

The sunrise glory glanced. 

With wondering awe the red men saw 

The silken cross unfurled. 
His task was done; for good or ill, 
The fatal banners of Castile 

Waved o 'er the western world. 




26 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

27. Marco Polo's Cathay and Cipango. Columbus, feeling 
sure that he had landed on an island of India, called the natives 
Indians. 

The Indians told him by signs that there were lands to the 
south, the southwest and the northwest. This caused him to believe 
that he was among the islands that Marco Polo had told about, 
lying off the coast of Cathay, or what we now call China. Colum- 
bus had read Polo's story of the great king of Cipango (Japan), 
whose palace was covered with plates of gold. So, when the In- 
dians told him that to the south there lived a king of such wealth 
that he ate from vessels of gold, Columbus thought they meant the 
ruler of Cipango. 

28. Cuba Discovered and Explored. When, a few days later, 
he discovered the island of Cuba he supposed it to be the home 
of the rich king. But finding no wealthy ruler, nor palaces of 
gold, he concluded that it must be a part of the mainland of Asia, 
or, as he called it, India. 

Of course he was thousands of miles from Asia, but he did 
not know it ; he had made a mistake as to the size of the earth. 

Columbus sailed eastward along the northern coast of Cuba, 
until he reached Haiti, which he called Hispaniola, or Little Spain. 
Near this island his largest ship, the Santa Maria, was wrecked. 
Of the boards from the broken ship, with the aid of the Indians, 
he built a fort, and left some of the crew to await his return from 
Spain. 

29. Columbus's Return to Spain. Early in January, 1493, 
Columbus with the two other vessels started home. When near 
his journey's end he was caught in a terrible storm, and the two 
ships were separated. The Pinta was driven through the Bay of 
Biscay, and Columbus to the Azores Islands. But finally both 
vessels outrode the storm and entered the harbor of Palos the 
same day. 

Columbus was kindly received by both the rulers and people 



PEKIOD OF GREAT DISCOVERIES 



27 



of Spain. Everyone was anxious to hear and talk about the 
strange country just found. And well might there be excitement, 
for perhaps nothing in history can be compared with his discovery. 
By it a new world — or, better, the other half of our great world — 
had been opened to mankind. 

People no longer laughed at Coliunbus, but all were ready to do 
him honor. Whenever he 
appeared the streets were 
crowded to see the famous 
discoverer. Those who 
were jealous of him did 
not dare to show it at 
first, though later they 
became more bold. 

We are told that at a 
banquet given by a Span- 
ish nobleman in honor of 
Columbus a jealous cour- 
tier rudely asked Colum- 
bus if he thought himself 
the only man in Spain 
who was capable of mak- 
ing a great discovery. To 
this Columbus made no 

reply, but, taking an egg, invited the company to make it stand on 
end. Every one tried to do so, but in vain. Columbus then struck it 
lightly upon the table so as to break the end, and left it standing 
on the broken part. The silly courtier thus received his answer. 
Columbus showed him that it was easy enough to find the new 
world after the way had been pointed out. 

30. Other Voyages of Columbus. Plans for a second and 
very much larger expedition were soon in preparation. A large 
colony went with Columbus on this second voyage. The new settle- 




CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



28 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

ment, the first in America, was made at Isabella, on the Island of 
Haiti, in 1493. 

Columbus made four voyages in all. On the third, in 1498, he 
discovered South America, near the mouth of the Orinoco Kiver. 
On his fourth he explored the coast near the Isthmus of Panama, 
hoping to find a strait leading to the Indian Ocean. The Pacific 
Ocean was not yet known. On this last voyage he was ship- 
wrecked, and reached Spain after great suffering. 

31. Death of Columbus. While governor of Haiti, Columbus 
was accused by his enemies of wrongdoing. He was arrested, 
brutally bound in chains, and sent home to Spain. On the arrival 
of the great discoverer at Cadiz all Spain cried out in horror at 
such dishonor and cruelty, and for four hundred years she has re- 
gretted this shameful act. 

Columbus died in 1506. He was first buried in Seville, where 
the body remained for thirty years ; next in Haiti ; then in Havana ; 
and finally in 1898 his remains were carried back to Spain. 

EXERCISE ON Columbus's voyages 

Tell the story of the efforts of Columbus to get aid from Spain. 
Give an account of Columbus crossing the Atlantic. Do you blame 
the sailors for being fearful? Name some of the first signs of 
land. What islands did he first discover? Why did he name the 
natives Indians? Tell the story of his landing. After he had 
discovered land he was admiral, not before that; why? Can you 
repeat the poem, "The Discovery of America"? Describe the dis- 
coveries of Columbus to the southward. What two great islands 
did he find? Describe his homeward trip. Describe his recep- 
tion in Spain. Tell the story of the egg. Give an account of his 
second voyage. Where and in what year was the first settlement 
in America made? When and by whom was South America dis- 
covered? Tell the story of Columbus's disgrace. Wliat is your 



PEEIOD OF GEEAT DISCOVERIES 29 

opinion of the queen? Of the king? Give an account of the 
death and burial of Columbus. 

32. The Cabots. Many of the famous sailors who made their 
appearance soon after the discovery of America were Italians. It 
is easy to see a reason for this: we remember that the north 
Italian cities had been for three hundred years great centers of 
commerce, and that their ships had carried the merchandise of 
all Europe. Genoa was the birthplace of another great voyager 
named John Cabot. About 1470 he moved from Venice, which 
had been his home for fifteen years, to Bristol, England. He was 
the father of three sons, the most famous of whom was Sebastian^ 
born in Venice. 

When Columbus startled the world by his great discovery John 
Cabot asked and received permission from King Henry VII of 
England to go on a voyage of discovery to the west. 

33. Cabot's Discovery of North America. Early in May, 
1497, he started from Bristol in a small ship named the Matthew. 
With him were his son Sebastian and eighteen other men. By 
the first of August, after three months' sailing, he returned home. 
It is not known at exactly what point he landed in North America, 
but it is supposed to be on the coast of Labrador or Newfound- 
land. On this first voyage he found no Indians, though he saw 
their traps for catching wild animals. 

He called the land Prima Vista, meaning first seen. This was 
the first voyage and discovery made by any one sailing under the 
British flag. 

34. The Second Voyage. The next year, in 1498, a second 
expedition, much larger than the first, sailed under either John 
Cabot, the father, or under Sebastian Cabot, the son. Both may 
have been on this voyage. The expedition touched America well 
to the north and sailed as far south as Chesapeake Bay. 

On this voyage icebergs were seen and fish in great abundance 
were found. Here is an account of it given by an old writer more 



30 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



than three hundred years ago: "In the seas thereabout Cabot 
found so great multitudes of certain big fishes that they sometimes 
stayed his ships. He found also the people covered with beasts' 
skins. He also saith there is great plenty of bears in those regions, 
which used to eat fish : for plunging themselves in the water, where 

they perceive a multi- 
tude of these fishes to be, 
they fasten their claws in 
their scales, and so draw 
them to the land and eat 
them." 

Another writer says : 
"He directed his course 
so far towards the north 
pole that even in the 
month of July he found 
monstrous heaps of ice 
swimming on the sea, 
and in manner continual 
daylight, yet saw he the 
land in that tract free 
from ice, which had been molten by the heat of the sun." 

We know that these accounts given by the Cabots are true. 
During four hundred years the banks of Newfoundland have sup- 
plied the world with codfish. Icebergs are to be seen every sum- 
mer off the same coast. 

It is possible that Sebastian Cabot sailed on a third voyage to 
the coast of North America, about the year 1503, but of this we can- 
not be sure. The minds of people in Europe were full of the dis- 
coveries that had been made, and the Cabots were deeply interested 
in all the attempts that were being made to find a short route to 
India. Therefore it is not likely they would be willing to stay at 
home when there was any chance of going on a voyage of discovery. 




VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS AND THE 
CABOTS 



PEEIOD or GREAT DISCOVERIES 31 

Forty years after the Oabots' discovery of North America, 
Henry VII of England granted him a yearly pension which he was 
careful to state as "one hundred, three-score and six pounds, thir- 
teen shillings, four-pence sterling." 

35. Explorations of Sebastian Cabot. Soon after the death of 
Henry VII, Sebastian Cabot left England and went to Spain. 
Charles V made him Pilot Major of Spain, and for several years he 
sailed under the' Spanish flag. While sailing along the coast of 
South America he discovered the river La Plata. Upon his return 
to Spain, because of complaints made against him by the men who 
had been with him on this expedition, he was thrown into prison. 
He was pardoned, however, and later he went back to England to 
live. 

A company of English merchants were at this time interested in 
trying to find a way to reach China by sailing around the northern 
part of Europe. They did find a passage, through the White Sea, to 
the coast of Russia, and they started up a trade with that country. 
Cabot was put at the head of this company. He died in London 
about the year 1557, after a long and useful life, which had been 
full of adventure and hard work. 

EXERCISES ON MAP 

Columbus first went from Palos to the Canary Islands; in 
what direction did he sail? In what direction did he sail after 
leaving these islands? Why did he turn toward the southwest 
near the end of his trip? Had he kept directly to the west what 
land would he have discovered? Spain lost Cuba in 1898. How 
many years did she hold Cuba? Notice the route taken by the 
Cabots ; who took the longer, Columbus or the Cabots ? Whence did 
John Cabot start? Who first discovered North America? Who 
South America? Had it not been for the birds who would have 
first discovered North America? 



CHAPTEE II 

SPANISH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 

36. Vasco Nunez De Balboa* A Spanish ship was on her 
way from Santo Domingo to the Isthmus of Panama. No sooner 
was she well out to sea than her crew was startled by cries coming 
from a barrel supposed to contain merchandise. When the barrel 
was broken open, out sprang a young Spaniard, who had thus hid- 
den himself in order to get out of Santo Domingo. This man 
was Balboa, fleeing from his creditors. He was very much in 
debt, and was for that reason forbidden to leave the city. 

The people in the ship were Spanish settlers bound for the 
Isthmus of Panama. Balboa, like the rest of them, hoped to 
find wealth in the form of gold and precious gems. He was 
bold and brave and ready to make use of any chance which offered 
itself. 

37. Balboa Governor of Darien. In a short time the restless 
and unruly settlers of Panama became dissatisfied with their gov- 
ernor, and sent him back to Haiti. Balboa now took the govern- 
ment of the colony into his own hands. As he had no right to 
do this, he was in danger of being punished for treason. But he 
hoped that if he could subdue many of the Indian tribes, and send 
much gold to Spain, the king would overlook his unlawful act. 
He was successful in both of these undertakings, and in due time 
the king appointed him governor. 

38. The Pacific Ocean Discovered. About this time he heard 
through the natives of a great sea beyond the mountains. This 
body of water, they said, could be seen from the summit of a lofty 



SPANISH EXPLOEATION AND SETTLEMEfNT 



33 



peak. He now bent every efEort to the task of reaching this 
unknown sea. 

Many powerful hostile Indian tribes lay in his path. He sent 
to Spain for a thousand soldiers to help him fight his way to the 
new ocean. But failing to get aid from the king, he had the 
courage to start out with what few men he could collect from the 



.^« Sam 




fOR^« 



SOUTH 
AMERICA 



BALBOA'S ROUTE FROM HAITI TO THE PACIFIC 



colony. Besides these he took with him a number of the friendly 
Indians whom he had won to himself by acts of kindness. They 
were very valuable aids to him because of their knowledge of the 
wilderness and of the habits of savage life. He also took with 
him a famous bloodhound that was his constant companion and 
aid in many desperate fights with the Indians. 

The road to the ocean was very difl&cult; it was over rugged 



34 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

mountains, through almost impassable forests, and by a pathless 
wilderness with danger on every side. But the hostile Indians were 
the greatest hindrance. In one battle alone over six hundred natives 
were slain by Balboa and his followers. By degrees the little com- 
pany of explorers dwindled, until only sixt3^-seven able-bodied 
Spaniards were left. With these and his friendly Indians Balboa 
l^ushed on until he reached a lofty and airy mountain region. 
From the bald summit of one of these mountains the guides said 
the sea could be seen. 

Balboa now ordered his followers to stay below while he climbed 
alone to the mountain-top. "On reaching the summit, the long- 
desired prospect burst upon his view. It was as if a new world were 
unfolded to him. Below him extended a vast chaos of rock and 
forest, while at a distance the waters of the promised ocean glit- 
tered in the morning sun." He now called his men to the summit. 

This was one of the greatest discoveries that had yet been made 
in the new world. Was this the vast Indian Ocean dotted with 
islands, rich in gold, in gems, in spices, and fringed with great 
cities, as described by Marco Polo? Or was it a new world of 
waters, never before seen by Christian eyes ? Balboa did not know, 
but he called upon all present to witness that he took possession of 
these waters, the islands, and all surrounding lands, in the name 
of the rulers of Spain. On September 26, 1513, the day on which 
Balboa made this valuable discovery, he erected an immense cross 
to mark the spot from which he first saw that mighty body of 
water we now call the Pacific. 

Balboa then started on his journey to the coast of the newly- 
found ocean. Here, as before, he was obliged to fight his way 
through hostile tribes. He reached the coast with but twenty-six 
Spaniards and a few Indian warriors. Unfurling his banner and 
drawing his sword, he marched into the water, and in a loud 
voice, in the name of the Spanish rulers, took possession of 
all the sea, with all its islands and bordering continents, "both 



SPANISH EXPLOBATION AND SETTLEMENT 



35 



now and in all times, as long as the world endures, and until the 
final judgment of all mankind." 

This ocean, because of its seeming direction from the Isthmus 
of Panama, is sometimes, even in these days, called the South Sea. 

39. Balboa's Death. It 
would be a pleasure to state 
that for this great discovery 
Balboa received from the 
king and people of Spain 
his due reward and great 
honors, but such is not the 
fact. He was arrested, tried 
for treason, and unjustly be- 
headed. 

40. Peru. At the time 
of his arrest, Balboa was fit- 
ting out an expedition to ex- 
plore the south Pacific coast. 
The object of this enterprise 
was to seek pearls and gold, 
said by the Indians to 
abound in a great rich coun- 
try to the south of them. 

This country we know as Peru. It was peopled by half-civilized 
Indians. It was mere chance that Balboa did not find it. With 
two small vessels he was sailing near the coast of Peru, when a 
storm frightened his men and he was obliged to return to Panama, 
only to meet his death at the hands of his countrymen. 

Pizarro, who later made the conquest of Peru, was with Balboa; 
when he first saw the Pacific. 




BALBOA 



EXERCISE ON BALBOA 

Tell the story of the man in the barrel. In what direction is 
Darien from Santo Domingo? Across what body of water is it? 



36 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Tell how Balboa became governor of Darien. WTio told Balboa 
about the Pacific Ocean? Whence could it be seen? Why was it 
difficult to reach this unknown sea? Tell the story of Balboa 
crossing the mountains. In whose name did he take possession? 
Spain once claimed all the Pacific coast of the United States. Can 
you think why? Balboa claimed all the islands of the Pacific for 
Spain, but she afterward claimed only those discovered by her own 
sailors. Among these last were the Philippines, discovered by 
Magellan in 1531. She ceded these to the United States in 1898. 
How many years were the Philippines under Spanish rule ? Con- 
trast Columbus and Balboa, (a) as to discoveries; (b) as to honors 
and reward. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Balboa sailed in what direction? Across what water? In 
what direction is Darien from Cuba? From Porto Eico? From 
what place to what place did Cortez sail? Through what bodies 
of water did he pass? Had Columbus kept straight west what 
land would he have reached? Who did first reach that land? 
What is it now called ? Bound the Caribbean Sea. Bound the Gulf 
of Mexico. When was Porto Eico discovered? By whom? In 
what direction did Balboa look when he first saw the Pacific Ocean ? 

41. Conquest of Mexico by Cortez. Next to the natives of 
Peru the most civilized Indians of America were the Mexicans. 
Mexico was therefore the most civilized country of North America. 

Hernando Cortez, a Spanish lieutenant who had lived in Cuba, 
started in 1519 to explore and conquer Mexico for his master, 
Charles V. He took with him six hundred men, some cannon 
and eighteen horses. Crossing the Gulf of Mexico, he landed in a 
country very different from the islands peopled with savages which 
the Spaniards had first reached. 

He found a civilized race under a powerful ruler, Montezuma. 
This ruler had at his command an army of a hundred thousand 



SPANISH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 



37 




SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 



men, armed with bows and arrows. The City of Mexico was well 
built, with houses of stone. It stood in the middle of a great lake. 
In the markets and shops were gold and silver ornaments, cotton 
fabrics and wonderful tissues woven of the bright plumage of trop- 



38 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

ical birds. There were magnificent palaces and temples and good 
roads. The government of Mexico was civilized; there were pub- 
lic schools, tribunals and judges. The Spaniards realized that 
they had reached a rich and desirable country. 

42. The Methods of Cortez. Cortez as he advanced into the 
country made friendly alliances with the Mexicans when it was 
possible. When his friendship was refused he awed the people with 
his cannon and the firearms carried by his men. The horses on 
which they rode also were objects of wonder and dread. The 
Mexicans had never seen a horse. At first Cortez was regarded as 
a god. Montezuma was his friend. Cortez forced him to declare 
himself a vassal of Charles V, and made him pay an immense 
sum in gold and jewels as tribute. This tribute Cortez divided 
into five equal parts. One part he sent to the Emperor Charles, one 
he kept for himself and the other three were divided among his 
soldiers. But j\Iexico was not conquered without bloodshed. The 
Spaniards were too avaricious. There was a fierce war, in which 
Montezuma was killed. Mexico then became a part of the great 
Spanish empire. Cortez, however, like Columbus, fell into dis- 
grace and the emperor even refused to see him on his return to 
Spain. The story is told that one day Cortez pushed through the 
crowd and stood before the emperor, who asked : "Who is this 
man?" Cortez is said to have answered: "It is a man who has 
given you more states than your father left you cities." 

43. Ponce de Leon came with Columbus on his second voyage 
to America, and thus had the honor of helping to form the first set- 
tlement in the new world. By permission of the Spanish governor 
of Haiti, in 1508, he sailed at the head of an expedition to the 
island of Porto Eico. After several years Spain got full control of 
the island, and owned it until a few years ago. In 1898 she ceded 
it to the United States. 

44. Florida Discovered. While governor of Porto Eico, Ponce 
de Leon heard of an island where there was said to be a 



SPANISH EXPLOEATION AND SETTLEMENT 39 

wonderful spring. This spring had the power of renewing the 
youth of anyone who drank of its waters. He was getting old 
and he longed to be young again ; so with the hope of finding this 
island and its fountain of youth he fitted out a large expedition 
at great expense to himself. 

Making his way through the Bahama Islands, he sailed north- 
west, and on a bright Easter morning in 1513 found the mainland 
of North America. Supposing the country to be the island of his 
search, he named it Florida, in honor of the day, and also be- 
cause of the many flowers found along the shore. The word 
Florida is the shortening of two Spanish words meaning Flowery 
Sunday, or Easter. Not finding the fountain, he returned to 
Porto Eico, as old as ever. 

Eight years later Ponce de Leon tried to take possession of 
Florida, but was driven off by the Indians. No lasting settlement 
was made in that region until the founding of St. Augustine in 
1565. 

Ponce de Leon returned to Spain, a disappointed old man. 
Here he was laughed at for his foolish search. But though he did 
not find the famous waters that were to have made him young again, 
he found a name that will live in history. And more than this, 
his discovery gave Spain a claim to territory much larger and 
richer than Spain itself. 

EXERCISE ON PONCE DE LEON 

Tell in your own language the story of Ponce de Leon. As 
a result of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Porto Rico 
to the United States in 1898; how long was the island under 
Spanish rule? When was the first settlement made in the new 
world? The first settlement made in the United States was in 
Florida; when and where was it? What is the meaning of the 
word Florida? Did Ponce de Leon find the fountain? Did he 
find anything ? What ? Do you think it wise or foolish for an old 



40 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

man to be looking for such a fountain? What do you think of a 
person who never looks for anything? 

45. Narvaez. At the time of Ponce de Leon and for two 
hundred years after Florida included the southern half of the coun- 
try now known as the Gulf States. 

In 1527 Narvaez, with six hundred men, set out from Spain to 
conquer this country. On his way he stopped at Cuba. The next 
year, with now less than four hundred men, he left for Florida. All 
but four men were lost. 

46. Gabeza de Vaca was one of the four men saved from the 
wreck of the Narvaez expedition. He was an officer under Nar- 
vaez and a man of some note in Spain. After the wreck he lived 
nearly six years as a slave among the Indians of Texas. During 
this time he sometimes heard of the other three men, but did not 
see them. At length they all met in western Texas. 

De Vaca had become a medicine-man, and was looked up to 
by the Indians. Because of this he was able to escape with his 
three friends. They went from tribe to tribe westward until they 
reached a Spanish settlement on the Gulf of California. It will 
be seen that these men were great travelers, but unlike others before 
them, they were seeking neither fame nor gold. 

In passing from Tampa Bay to the Gulf of California they 
had crossed the continent of North America, a distance of eighteen 
hundred miles. They were the first Europeans to cross it. The 
journey was made in 1520, one hundred years before the settle- 
ment of New England. The route taken by the men is known 
only in a general way. They may have crossed New Mexico, but 
there are reasons to suppose that they passed farther south, through 
the northern part of Mexico proper. 

All of that country lacks moisture, and for that reason is a 
half-desert region, the home of the cactus plant. It is known 
that while traveling, these men, naked and unarmed, suffered from 



SPANISH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 41 

heat and cold, from hunger and thirst; their flesh was so torn by 
thorns that it made them "shed their skins like snakes," 

This great journey had two results : First, it gave to the world 
an idea of the greatness of North America, and, secondly, it led to 
another expedition under Coronado. 

47. Coronado. When de Vaca and his companions described 
the strange country they had crossed, and told about the rich 
Indian cities or pueblos to the north, the Spaniards thought there 
might be another Mexico to conquer, or another Peru, rich in gold. 

We have already heard of the legend of the "Seven Cities." By 
some wild fancy the Spaniards got the idea that these Indian 
cities were the Seven Cities of the old legend. From the name of 
the place, Cibola, the Spaniards called them "The Seven Cities of 
Cibola." The streets of these cities were supposed to be paved 
with gold. 

48. Fray Marcos. There was in Mexico at this time a noted 
monk known in history as Fray Marcos, or, as fray means brother, 
we should say Brother Marcos. He had been with Pizarro in the 
conquest of Peru, but had returned to Mexico. He now, with 
a few Indians and the negro companion of de Vaca, set out to 
learn what he could of "The Seven Cities of Cibola." Within 
sight of the pueblo of the Zuni Indians he was attacked, and his 
negro companion was killed. Fray Marcos and the others escaped. 

49. Coronado's March. The next year, in 1540, Coronado, 
with three hundred Spaniards and eight hundred Mexican Indians, 
was sent to occupy and colonize the country of the "Seven Cities of 
Cibola." He was ordered by the governor of Mexico never to re- 
turn. Starting from a small place on the Gulf of California, with 
Fray Marcos as his guide, he marched northward and after a 
short fight captured Cibola. This pueblo of the Zuiii may yet 
be seen, still occupied by this strange people, living very much as 
they did three hundred and fifty years ago when Coronado con- 
quered them. 



43 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



50. The Grand Canyon Discovered. While in this region 
Coronado sent out several expeditions, one of which discovered the 
Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the largest and grandest in the 
world. During the winter, in the valley of the upper Eio Grande, 
he heard of the Indian city of Quivira, where all was pure gold. 




GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO 



Thfe next spring (1541) he started to find this golden city. He 
traveled as far, perhaps, as central Kansas, until he came to the 
Quivira Indians; but they had no gold, nor did they know where 
any could be found. The next year, in 1542, Coronado returned 
to Mexico, disappointed and in disgrace. 

51. Settlement of New Mexico. Other attempts were made 
to settle New Mexico, but failed. 

The first successful colony was planted in 1598, in the Kio 



SPANISH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 43 

Grande valley a few miles above Santa Fe. Santa Fe, the second 
oldest city in the United States, was not occupied until seven 
years later, Oiiate, a wealthy Spaniard born in Mexico, fitted out 
this first colony of New Mexico at great expense to himself; he 
also was its first governor. 

We have seen that the first Spanish settlement, at St. Augustine, 
was made in 1565, and the second, north of Santa Fe, in 1598, The 
city of Santa Fe, however, was not occupied until 1605, just two 
years before the first English settlement at Jamestown, 

EXERCISE 

Give an account of Narvaez and his expedition. Who was 
Cabeza de Vaca? How many were finally saved from the wreck? 
Give an account of the journey of the four men. What were the 
results of this trip? About how far in a straight line did they 
travel? What was the object of Coronado's trip to Xew Mexico? 
Wliat did he expect to find? What did he find? Did he make 
any settlement in 'New Mexico? When was the first settlement 
made? What is the second oldest town in the United States? 
When settled? By whom? Did Coronado discover anything of 
importance? Tell the story of "The Seven Cities of Cibola." 

52. Hernando de Soto came to America in 1519, a poor and 
unknown young man; a few years later he returned to Spain a 
famous and wealthy cavalier. During that time he had led a force 
of three hundred men to help Pizarro in his conquest of Peru. The 
wealth in gold and silver obtained from this world-famed con- 
quest was so great that even the share of a common soldier was 
in some cases equal to $50,000 or more. On his return to Spain, De 
Soto was appointed governor of Florida, that flowery land discov- 
ered by Ponce de Leon. This country, although it had been found 
some twenty-six years before, had not as yet been explored or 
conquered. 



44 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



EXERCISE ON MAP 



Trace Coronado's route. Through what states and territories 
did he pass ? Point out all indicated on the map. 




ROUTE FOLLOWED BY COROXADO 



53. The Mississippi River Discovered. De Soto sailed from 
Spain in 1538, with six hundred men, and landed in May, 1539, at 
Tampa Bay. In his efforts to explore the country he had to go 
through forests, rivers and swamps, as did Narvaez eleven years 
before; but his greatest trouble was with the unfriendly Indians. 
During four years of dreadful suffering, exposure and anxiety De 



SPANISH EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 45 

Soto and his men wandered, like Coronado, to and fro through the 
southern part of the United States, searching for gold, but finding 
none. 

In 1541 he reached the Mississippi Eiver. De Soto and his 
company were probably the first white men to see the river flow- 
ing in majestic sweep of more than a mile wide. De Soto crossed 
the river and passed the year 1542 in roaming about, still looking 
for gold, which the Spaniards thought the most valuable treasure 
that could be obtained. During this year both Coronado and De 
Soto were between the Mississippi Eiver and the Eocky Mountains, 
and could not have been very far apart. 

54. Death of De Soto. On his return east, near the junction of 
the Eed and Mississippi rivers, De Soto died. In order to conceal 
his death from the Indians, his men buried his body in the noble 
river he had discovered. His weary, jaded followers now built 
them rude vessels. In these they sailed down the Mississippi 
Eiver to the Gulf of Mexico, then west till they reached the Spanish 
settlements in Mexico. 

For one hundred and thirty years after the events just told 
this great river flowed along its course unseen by white man, till 
it was re-discovered by the French of the north, in 1673. 

EXERCISE ON DE SOTO 

Trace De Soto's supposed route. What was he seeking? ■V\Tiat 
did he find? Was De Soto the first to see this river? In what 
year did he discover it? Which was the more valuable discovery, 
Peru or the Mississippi Valley? What were the ideas of the 
Spaniards as to the value of the two discoveries? Why did Spain 
neglect the Mississippi Valley for so many years? Do you think 
she would have neglected it had gold been found there? What is 
now found in this great valley ? Which is the better, gold, or what 
we now find in the Mississippi Valley? 



CHAPTER III 



THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



55. Where Found. When the Europeans came to America 
they found the country occupied by what we call the Indian race. 
These people were scattered over both continents from Hudson's 
Bay on the north to Cape Horn on the south, a distance of seven 
thousand miles. 

The most civilized Indians were the Incas and their neighbors 
on the plateaus of Bolivia and Peru. They had large temples, and 
well-built cities connected by good roads. 

56. The Llama. Commerce between these tribes was carried 
on by means of the llama. This animal was the only beast of 
burden found in America. 
The horse, afterward so 
much used by the In- 
dian on our western 
plains, was brought to 
this country by the Euro- 
peans. 

The dog, though not 
properly a beast of bur- 
den, was used to draw 
sledges in the colder re- 
gions, and to do various 
kinds of work in other 
parts of the country. 

46 




THE LlX'mA 



THE AMEEICAN INDIAN 47 

The home of the llama is among the Andes of South America. 
When Balboa was on the Isthmus of Panama the Indians tried to 
describe the llama to him by moulding an image in clay. As he 
thought they meant a horse or a camel, we suspect they were not 
very good artists. 

The llama is to the mountain regions of South America what 
the camel is to the desert regions of Asia and Africa; it belongs to 
the same family of animals as does the camel. 

It was, perhaps, the use of this animal that helped to make the 
Indians of Peru so highly civilized. The trade of the Andes 
Mountains is still largely carried on by means of the llama. 

57. Half-Civilized and Savage Tribes. The half-civilized In- 
dians of the United States are found in Arizona and New Mexico. 
They are called Pueblo Indians from the nature of the place in 
which they live. Pueblo is a Spanish word meaning village. 

All the Indians of the United States except the Pueblos were 
savage. They lived largely on what nature supplied them without 
much labor on their part. They cared very little for the future, and 
were satisfied with just enough for their immediate needs. They 
obtained most of their food by hunting and fishing. The men did 
the hunting, fishing and fighting ; and the women did such work as 
the men disliked to do. They cultivated beans, pumpkins, corn and 
tobacco. 

58. Indian Beliefs. AH the Indians believed in a life after 
death, but they did not all agree as to its nature. Some thought 
that only the good hunters, brave warriors and men of note went 
to the happy hunting-grounds, and that the spirits of the weak, 
lazy, cowardly Indians were compelled to wander in hunger and 
darkness. The belief of other Indian tribes was that all Indians, 
good or bad, went to the same place. 

Some Indians believed there was one chief manitou, who was 
the king of men and of animals. He was known by other names, 
but for convenience we will call him Great Manitou. 



48 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 




WOODEN DISH 



According to one ac- 
count, his father was the 
west wind and his mother 
the great grand-daughter of 
the moon. Some saw a Great 
Manitou in the sun. Some 
of the Indian tribes had an- 
other hero, known as Hiawatha. You have all heard of him. 

We think the beliefs of the red man very childish and silly. 
But we may find that, on the whole, they were not so very unlike 
those of the white man. 

The Bible, we remember, tells us that the world was once de- 
stroyed by a flood. Here is the 
Indian's account of the same 
event : 

Great Manitou in some way 
greatly offended some serpents, 
who also were manitous of in- 
ferior rank. They tried to de- 
stroy him by flooding the earth. 
To save himself he climbed a 

tree, which by his orders grew as fast as the water rose. He was 
thus able to keep his head above water. 

He called to a loon, which he saw coming over the water, to 
dive down and bring him some mud with which to make a new 
earth. The loon tried, but he was drowned. A muskrat then dived 

for the mud, but he soon rose 
to the surface of the water 
seemingly dead. But Great 
Manitou examined his claws 
and found held fast in them 
a little bit of wet earth. 
INDIAN MOCCASIN With this small piece of 




^^m^~ 



CLAY BOWL 




THE AMERICAN INDIAN 



49 




INDIAN DUGOUT 

mud and the dead body of the loon Great Manitou made a 
beautiful, big new world. 

Accounts of a great flood are given by other tribes, but they 
differ somewhat from this one. 

The Iroquois believed that the spirit of thunder lived in the 
caverns under the falls of Niag- 
ara. When the thunder rolled 
across the sky it was supposed to 
be the spirit's voice speaking to 
the red men of the forest. i 

We remember that the Ger- 
mans had a god of thunder, called 
Thor. It was believed that thun- 
der and lightning were caused by 
this god riding across the clouds 
in his car, drawn by two goats. 
So, too, the wise old Greeks 
thought great Jove, who was sup- 
posed to dwell on Mount Olympus, 
had power to hurl the thunder- 
bolts. The old Greek statues of 
Jove show him holding the thun- 
der-bolts in his right hand. 

The Indians have a pretty 
legend explaining the origin of papoose 




50 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



maize, their principal breadfood. A beautiful maiden was chased by 
an evil manitou, or river god. She hid herself among the reeds on the 
river's bank and then her body was changed into a graceful stalk, 
her teeth into milk-white kernels, and her flowing hair into silk. 
So there stood, instead of a trembling girl, a tall, slender stalk of 
Indian corn. 

Among the Greeks there are many such legends. Some of them 
are as pretty as the one about the Indian maiden. One of these is 







INDIAN BIRCH-BARK HOUSE 



about Narcissus, who was the son of a river-god. He fell in love 
Rdth his own reflection in the water, and pined away until he 
was changed into a flower of the same name. Then there is the 
story of Daphne, the daughter of another river-god. She wished 
to hide from the god Apollo and she was changed into a laurel 
tree so that he might not find her. 

The red fishermen of the forest, in order to have "good luck," 
tried to keep the spirit of the lake good-natured by casting a few 
grains of corn or a little tobacco into the water. They thought also 
that the lake or river could hear and understand what was said, so 



THE AMERICAN INDIAN 51 

they were very careful about their conversation when they were 
beside a body of water. 

The Indian thought he could keep back the cold north wind 
by throwing firebrands into the air. 

The red-faced medicine-man sought to drive away the evil 
spirit of disease by singing or chanting magical words over his 
suffering patient. 

Many other things the Indians did quite as foolish as these. 

But before we laugh at the poor ignorant red man, should we 
not be sure that the white man has no silly beliefs? Have we ever 
heard of such a thing as "good luck" among white men? How 
about the four-leaf clover, or the finding of a horseshoe ? Have we 
not heard of a white man who would carry a rabbit's foot in his 
pocket, prizing especially that of a rabbit which had been killed in 
a graveyard? Do you think rheumatism was ever cured by carry- 
ing a potato in the pocket, or wearing an iron ring on the finger ? 

59. The Indian Canoe. Rivers and lakes were the highways 
for the red men in their canoes. These canoes were made either of 
birch-bark or of the trunks of trees, hollowed out by fire. It was 
easier for the Indian to travel by water than to tramp through 
forests, over mountains, and across prairies, where there were no 
roads. 

The method of making a birch-bark canoe is pictured in the 
following lines from Longfellow's "Hiawatha" :* 

HIAWATHA'S SAILING 
"Give me of your bark, O Birch-tree! 
Of your yellow bark, O Birch-tree! 
Growing by the rushing river. 
Tall and stately in the valley! 
I a light canoe will build me. 
Build a swift Cheemaun for sailing, 

♦The selections from Longfellow and Holmes are used by permission of, 
and by special arrangement with, Houghton, Mifflin & Company, the publishers 
of their works. 



52 JUNIOE HISTORY OV THE UNITED STATES 

That shall float upon the river, 
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, 
Like a yellow water-lily! 

"Lay aside your cloak, O Birch-tree! 
Lay aside your white-skin wrapper. 
For the Summer-time is coming, 
And the sun is warm in heaven, 
And you need no white-skin wrapper! " 

Thus aloud cried Hiawatha 
In the solitary forest. 
By the rushing Taquamenaw, 
When the birds were singing gayly. 
In the Moon of Leaves were singing, 
And the sun, from sleep awaking, 
Started up and said, "Behold me! 
Gheezis, the great Sun, behold me ! " 

And the tree with all its branches 
Rustled in the breeze of morning, 
Saying with a sigh of patience, 
' ' Take my cloak, O Hiawatha ! ' ' 

With his knife the tree he girdled; 
Just beneath its lowest branches, 
Just above the roots, he cut it. 
Till the sap came oozing outward ; 
Down the trunk, from top to bottom, 
Sheer he cleft the bark asunder. 
With a wooden wedge he raised it, 
Stripped it from the trunk unbroken. 
"Give me of your boughs, O Cedar! 
Of your strong and pliant branches, 
My canoe to make more steady, 
Make more strong and firm beneath me ! " 

Through the summit of the Cedar 
Went a sound, a cry of horror. 
Went a murmur of resistance; 
But it whispered, bending downward, 
' ' Take my boughs, O Hiawatha ! ' ' 

Down he hewed the boughs of cedar, 
Shaped them straightway to a framework, 



THE AMERICAN INDIAN 53 

Like two bows he formed and shaped them 
Like two bended bows together. 

"Give me of your roots, O Tamarack! 
Of your fibrous roots, O Larch-tree! 
My canoe to bind together, 
So to bend the ends together 
That the water may not enter, 
That the river may not wet me ! " 

And the Larch, with all its fibres, 
Shivered in the air of morning. 
Touched his forehead with its tassels. 
Said with one long sigh of sorrow, 
' ' Take them all, O Hiawatha ! ' ' 

From the earth he tore the fibres, 
Tore the tough roots of the Larch-tree, 
Closely sewed the bark together. 
Bound it closely to the framework. 

"Give me of your balm, O Fir-tree! 
Of your balsam and your resin, 
So to close the seams together. 
That the water may not enter. 
That the river may not wet me ! " 

And the Fir-tree, tall and sombre, 
Sobbed through all its robes of darkness. 
Rattled like a shore with pebbles. 
Answered wailing, answered weeping, 
' ' Take my balm, O Hiawatha ! ' ' 

And he took the tears of balsam. 
Took the resin of the Fir-tree, 
Smeared therewith each seam and fissure, 
Made each crevice safe from water. 

"Give me of your quills, O Hedgehog! 
I will make a necklace of them, 
Make a girdle for my beauty. 
And two stars to deck her bosom ! ' ' 
From a hollow tree the Hedgehog 
With his sleepy eyes looked at him, 
Shot his shining quills, like arrows, 
Saying, with a drowsy murmur. 



54 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

T 




BUILDING A BIRCH-BARK CANOE 



Through the tangle of his whiskers, 
' ' Take my quills, O Hiawatha ! ' ' 

From the ground the quills he gathered, 
All the little shining arrows, 
Stained them red and blue and yellow. 
With the juice of roots and berries; 
Into his canoe he wrought them, 
Bound its waist a shining girdle, 
Eound its bows a gleaming necklace, 
On its breast two stars resplendent. 

Thus the Birch Canoe was builded. 
In the valley, by the river. 
In the bosom of the forest; 
And the forest's life was in it, 
All its mystery and its magic, 
All the lightness of the birch-tree, 



THE AMEEICAN INDIAN 55 

AU the toughness of the cedar, 
All the larch's supple sinews; 
And it floated on the river 
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, 
Like a yellow water-lily. 

Paddles none had Hiawatha, 
Paddles none he had or needed, 
For his thoughts as paddles served him, 
And his wishes served to guide him; 
Swift or slow at will he glided, 
Veered to right or left at pleasure. 

— H. W. Longfellow. 

EXERCISE ON THE INDIANS OF AMERICA 

Where were the most civilized Indians found? Tell what you 
can of the Indians of Peru. Describe the llama, and the clay 
model made for Balboa. When we remember that no white man 
had ever seen a llama, is it strange that Balboa did not understand 
the Indian's description ? What animal does the llama most nearly 
resemble ? Where is the llama still used ? Why did the llama give 
the Incas an advantage over the other Indian tribes? What did 
the savage Indians live upon? Who did the hunting? Who cul- 
tivated the corn and ground it into meal, and cooked it ? What did 
the Indians believe they would do after death? Who was Great 
Manitou ? Can you tell the story of Great Manitou and the flood ? 
Tell about the Indian's god of thunder ; the German's, the Greek's. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BEGINNINGS .OF THE UNITED STATES 

60. The Spaniards as Settlers. More than one hundred years 
had passed since Columbus and the Cabots landed in America. 
Yet only two small settlements were to be found within the present 
limits of the United States. These, as we know, were at St. Augus- 
tine and Santa Fe. 

The Spaniards were the only Europeans to found permanent 
colonies in North America during the sixteenth century. In making 
settlements the Spanish nation was more than a hundred years 
ahead of both the French and the English. 

61. The French tried at different times during the sixteenth 
century to start colonies, but failed. During the next century they 
were more successful. Their first lasting settlement was planted 
in 1604, at Port Royal, ISTova Scotia, then known as Acadia. 

62. England and Her Claims. For more than eighty-five 
years after the Cabots had given England her claim to North 
America, she seemed to care very little about it, and made no 
attempt to found settlements. As we have seen, her main efforts 
were to find a way around or through it to the Pacific Ocean, in 
order to reach India. But she never found the way. 

Near the close of the sixteenth century the English people felt 
that North America was worth looking after. So they began to 
make plans for starting colonies and to dream of the golden tide 
of commerce that would flow to them as a result. 

63. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was the first to attempt to plant a 
colony. He sailed far to the north. When near the island of 

56 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 57 

Newfoundland his fleet was caught in a fearful storm and all on 
board the vessels were lost. 

64. Sir Walter Raleigh. After the death of Gilbert his half- 
brother, Sir Walter Ealeigh, tried to form a settlement on the coast 
of the present state of North Carolina. He first sent out two 
ships to explore the coast and if possible to select a spot for set- 
tlement. On the return of the expedition the two commanders 
made a favorable report. They had found Eoanoke Island to be 
a suitable place for their purpose. The soil was good, the climate 
delightful and the Indians friendly. 

Queen Elizabeth was so pleased with the description and pros- 
pects of the country that she called it Virginia, in honor of her- 
self. For many years most of the country along the North Atlantic 
coast was called Virginia. Two states still bear the name given by 
the queen. 

65. The First English Colony in America. In 1585 Ealeigh 
sent out his first colony. Ealph Lane was its governor. By this 
time the Indians were not so friendly, and the white men soon got 
fnto trouble with them. On a June day that wild rover of the seas. 
Sir Francis Drake, sailed into their harbor to make the settlers a 
friendly call. He found them so discouraged that he was per- 
suaded to take them back to England. Thus the first colony was 
broken up. 

Lane carried to England two new plants, the potato and tobacco. 
These, with maize or Indian corn, were unknown in Europe before 
the discovery of America. The potato grew so well in Ireland that 
it soon became one of the leading products, and is now called the 
Irish potato. 

Ealeigh and Lane also introduced the smoking of tobacco. This 
habit, though hurtful, foolish and filthy, is now world-wide. 

But Indian corn did not take kindly to the climate of the 
British Islands, or indeed of Europe, and refused to grow there. 
America still leads the world as a corn-producing country. 



58 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

66. The Second Colony Sent Out. Raleigh had failed in his 
first attempt, but he was not discouraged. In 1587 he sent out 
another colony, under Captain John White. This company was 
larger than the first, and was composed of both men and women. 
There had been no women in the first colony, and perhaps this fact 
was the cause of its failure. As soon as the colonists were settled 
in their new home. Captain White returned to England for sup- 
plies. 

At this time England was at war with Spain, and Raleigh was 
prevented from sending supplies. Three years passed before the 
ship came back. But it was then too late; the settlers had disap- 
peared. No one knows what became of them. It seemed as though 
they had tried to leave something by which they might be traced, 
as the letters C-R-0-A-T-A-N were found cut in the bark of a 
tree. 

Among those left by Captain White upon the island was his own 
little granddaughter, Virginia Dare. She was the first English 
child born in North America. 

67. The Final Failure. Raleigh spent large sums of money 
in these efforts to plant a colony. He found that it was too much 
for a single person to manage, and so sold out to a stock company. 
Much credit is due to Gilbert and Raleigh, as what they did led to 
final success in founding an English-speaking nation in America. 
Though Raleigh was not successful himself, he lived long enough 
to see a permanent colony at Jamestown. In 1618, after an im- 
prisonment of twelve years, he was beheaded by order of James I. 

68. The Birth of America. Let us fix in mind two important 
facts of history. First, England grew in greatness from the time 
she founded Jamestown, her first lasting settlement in America; 
secondly, our own fair nation had her birth at the same time and 
place. 

In 1607 three ships sailed into Chesapeake Bay and up the 
James River. One hundred and five men had come in them by 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 



59 



way of the Canary 
and West India 
Islands, Notice on 
your map what a 
roundabout way they 
took. In 1603 Gos- 
nold had sailed from 
England directly 




JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT 

across the Atlantic to the New England coast. This was less than 
one-half the distance by the old route. 

Possibly the colonists did not take Gosnold's route because they 
expected to go to Eoanoke Island. But if such was their plan, 
they were not successful, as a storm drove them farther north. 

About one-half of these men were gentlemen. The word "gen- 
tlemen," in those days, meant those persons who were in rank be- 



60 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

low the nobility but above the laboring classes. These gentlemen 
felt it was beneath their dignity to work with their hands. They 
considered the work of a lawyer, a physician or the like honorable, 
but thought it more honorable to do nothing. 

These one hundred and five men chose a home on the banks 
of the James Eiver, and called the settlement Jamestown. Both 
river and settlement were named in honor of James I, then king 
of England. 

69. Captain John Smith was the real leader of the colony. 
Had it not been for his wisdom, energy and tact, this attempt at 
settlement would have been, like others, a failure. 

Captain Smith, if we may believe all that he says of himself, 
had led a very rough sort of life. He first ran away from home and 
enlisted as a soldier. He was shipwrecked and thrown into the 
sea, but fortunately reached land in safety. He fought in a war 
against the Turks and killed three of them in single combats. He 
was finally captured by the Turks and sold into slavery. Cruelly 
treated by his Turkish master, he killed him, and after many hard- 
ships escaped to England. All this happened before he was thirty 
years old. 

When the English people began to plan another settlement in 
America, Captain Smith decided to be one of the colony. He was 
just the man for such an enterprise. 

70. First Condition of the Colony. For some time after the 
landing at Jamestown no attempt was made to build comfortable 
houses. Anything that would shield from sun or rain was made 
to do. The gentlemen would not work; they had heard of the 
wonderful discoveries of the Spaniards in the South and had come 
to America to find gold. They expected soon to return to England 
loaded with the precious metal. But their golden visions faded, 
and they were brought face to face with sickness and hunger. The 
dainty gentlemen must either work or starve. They soon found 
that an empty stomach and false pride are not good neighbors. 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 



61 



Jamestown was in a low, unhealthful place, and many of the set- 
tlers sickened with fever and died. By fall only half their 
number w^as left. Added to these troubles, they were attacked hy 
the Indians; food became scarce, and, in fact, things in general 
looked very dark. Some tried to get off with the only ship in the 
harbor and escape to England. Smith pointed the few cannon he 
had at the ship, and this made them come back. 

Finally cooler weather came and the sick began to improve. 
Smith forced the gentlemen to work and better houses were 
built. The Indians gave them corn, and the colony was for the 
time saved. 

71. Newcomers. For two years Smith's energy and strong 
will kept the settlement from destruction. But in 1609 he was 
compelled to return to Eng- 
land. About this time five 
hundred more people came to 
the Jamestown colony. But 
though they swelled the num- 
ber, they were not a helpful or 
desirable company. They had 
been taken from the lower 
classes of society found in the 
streets and Jails of London, 
and were wholly unfitted to 
settle a new country. The col- 
ony now had no John Smith 
to govern it and to compel 
these worthless people to care 
for themselves, and matters 
grew worse each day. 

Exposure, hunger, filth, disease and hostile Indians laid so 
many of them low that in six months' time only sixty of the 
five hundred were living. 




CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



62 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 




A RELIC OF JAMESTOWN 

This old tower is all that remains of Jamestown, the seat of 
colonial government in Virginia until 1698, when Williamsburg 
was made the capital, and the older town began to dwindle away. 

The ruin marks the site of the third church erected here 
by the colonists, and is at least three hundred years old. The 
church of which it was a part has lately been restored by the 
Society of Colonial Dames, in order that this relic of early 
colonial days shall not follow the other buildings that once stood 
on the ground made famous by John Smith and Pocahontas. 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 63 

These sixty poor wretches decided to try to make their way to 
Newfoundland, where they hoped to receive aid from the fishermen. 
Just as they were starting out help came. Lord Delaware had 
sailed over from England with abundant supplies and more new 
settlers. A few years later we find Jamestown a prosperous colony. 

72. Smith's Explorations. While Smith was governor of Vir- 
ginia he explored Chesapeake Bay and the rivers flowing into it. 
Possibly he was the first white man to see the places where now are 
located Baltimore, Washington, Eichmond and other cities of that 
region. The object of these explorations was, first, to find a route 
to India; secondly, to get corn for the people at Jamestown, and, 
thirdly, to make a correct map of the bay and its rivers. 

After Smith went back to England be never returned to Vir- 
ginia, though he did not lose interest in America. In 1614 he 
sailed along the coast of New England, and made the first cor- 
rect map of that region. On his return to England from this coast 
he tried to persuade the English people to make settlements there. 
Failing in this, he himself made the attempt at his own cost. This, 
too, was a failure, but not from want of energy on his part. 

73. Pocahontas, the Virginia Princess. Powhatan was the 
great chief of the Virginia Indians ; he was ruler of thirty different 
tribes. Pocahontas was his daughter. She was also called Amonate 
and Matoaz. The last was her real name, but was seldom spoken, 
as the Indians believed that for an enemy to know the real name 
of a person gave him power to cast an evil influence over the one 
he would harm. The name Pocahontas is said to mean "Bright- 
Stream-between-Two-Hills." This was the Indian girl's favorite 
home-name. 

The settlers at Jamestown were greatly indebted to Pocahontas 
for aid in time of need. It is possible that without her assistance 
and friendship the colony would have been a failure. 

While Captain John Smith was exploring the country, he was 
captured by the Indians. Powhatan ordered his braves to put him 



64 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

to death. The Indians were ready with uplifted clubs to dash out 
his brains, when Pocahontas, then a little girl twelve years old, 
sprang forward and begged her father to spare the white man's 
life. Her father did as she wished and sent Smith in safety to 
Jamestown. 

At another time, when Smith and a party of his men were 
camped near the Indians, Pocahontas stole through the darkness 
and warned them that her father's warriors were going to attack 
them. Presents were offered to pay her for her kindness. She 
refused them, saying, with tears in her eyes : "My father will kill 
me if he sees them." She slipped back to her people through the 
darkness as she had come. 

During one of the darkest times in Jamestown, when the people 
were almost starved, help came from Pocahontas. "Suddenly a 
band of Indians, bending under baskets of com and venison, made 
their appearance from the direction of the York River, and entered 
the fort at Jamestown. At the head of this wild train was Poca- 
hontas. This Indian girl of her own good heart had brought food 
to the perishing colony." She afterward came once in every four 
or five days, and the food which she brought saved many lives. 

Many years later Smith, in a letter to the Queen of England, 
said of Pocahontas: "During the time of two or three years she, 
next to God, was still the instrument to preserve this colony from 
death, famine and utter confusion." 

It is well to remember that while Pocahontas was doing so much 
for the white people she was but a little girl from twelve to four- 
teen years of age. 

74, Powhatan Crowned Emperor. In the fall of 1608 a ship 
came from England, and with it came orders from the London 
Company to do four things : first, to crown Powhatan king or em- 
peror of the Virginia Indians ; secondly, to discover and return one 
of the lost Roanoke colonists ; thirdly, to send back a lump of gold ; 
and fourthly, to find the South Sea beyond the mountains. 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 65 

The settlers succeeded in obeying the first order, but failed in 
the other three. Smith was sent to ask Powhatan to come to James- 
town for the purpose of being crowned. The old chief refused to 
come. "I also am a king," he said, "and this is my land. Your 
father is to come to me, not I to him nor yet to your fort; neither 
will I bite at such a bait." 

So it was necessary for the white man to go to the home of 
Powhatan on the York Eiver in order to crown him. The crown- 
ing scene was a comical one. The proud old chief, though he was 
willing to receive the presents brought him, and to wear the scarlet 
cloak, refused to kneel and have the crown placed on his head till 
he was forced to do so. By this ceremony he became Powhatan I, 
under-king and subject to England. He sent his brother-king, 
James I, his old moccasins and robe of raccoon skin, in return for 
his scarlet cloak and the crown. 

While Smith and some of his men were at the home of Pow- 
hatan with the invitation for him to come to Jamestown and be 
crowned, a curious entertainment was given them. "The party of 
English were seated in a field by a fire when they heard singing, 
and turning their heads they saw a number of Indian girls coming 
from the woods. The leader of the band was Pocahontas, who wore 
a girdle of otter skin, and carried in her hand a bow and arrows, 
and behind her shoulders a quiver. About her forehead she wore 
antlers of the deer, and led the masqueraders, who after elaborate 
dancing led the English to a neighboring wigwam, where supper 
was supplied them, and they were treated with the utmost kindness. 
The ceremonies wound up with a grand torchlight procession, in 
honor of the Englishmen." 

75. The Marriage of Pocahontas. After Smith returned to 
England Pocahontas came no more to Jamestown. In 1613 she 
was taken prisoner by that robber. Captain Argall. He wished to 
hold her as a prisoner in order to keep King Powhatan on his 
good behavior. 



66 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



The next year Sir Thomas Dale, who was then governor, with 
a force of one hundred and fifty men went up the York Eiver on 
a visit to Powhatan, taking Pocahontas with him. His object was 

to make peace with Powhatan, 
and to let Pocahontas go back to 
her own people. But the stern 
old chief would have nothing to 
do with Dale, and was inclined to 
fight the English. 

Pocahontas then settled the 
matter by choosing to remain 
with her white friends. She said: 
*'If my father loved me he would 
not value me less than old swords, 
pieces and axes. I will live with 
the English, who love me." But 
the little maiden had a secret. 
Two of her brothers came to meet 
her, and to them she told the real 
reason for staying with the white 
men. She was to marry one of the Englishmen, Master John Eolfe. 
Sir Thomas Dale was greatly pleased to hear this news. "He 
saw in the marriage the promise of peace and good-will between 
the two races. He quickly returned to Jamestown, taking Poca- 
hontas with him," 

The courtship had been going on during the year she had 
been held a prisoner. "The little Indian maiden had come weep- 
ing to Jamestown, but had soon dried her tears; and when she 
went to the York with Dale, she had made up her mind to marry 
Rolfe." 

John Eolfe was noted for two things. «He was the husband of 
Pocahontas, and he first cultivated tobacco successfully. He was 
yet a young man, though he had been married when he left England, 




POCAHONTAS IN ENGLISH DRESS 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 



67 



He had a daughter named Bermuda, born on the islands of Ber- 
muda when Gates and his shipwrecked companions were on these 
famous islands. 

Pocahontas was baptized as "Lady Eebecca" and was received 
into the church. Some time after that the marriage took place at 

Jamestown in the 
presence of her rel- 
atives and her white 
friends. From the 
time of this mar- 
riage in 1614 till 
the death of Pow- 
hatan the old set- 
tlers had no trouble 
with the Indians. 

Eolfe and his 
dark-eyed bride 
made their home on 
a plantation some 
distance above 
Jamestown. 

About three years 
after the wedding, Eolfe, with his wife and a little son who had 
been born on the plantation, went to England. Pocahontas was 
petted and greatly honored by the nobility of London. She was re- 
garded as a princess, the daughter of an emperor. 

The change from the coarse food, the scanty clothing, the birch- 
bark wigwam and the rude customs of her people to the well- 
ordered homes and well-dressed, cultured people of the wealthy 
class was very great. But Pocahontas carried herself well in her 
new home. She was quick to see what others did and to learn 
what was expected of her. 

Captain John Smith was now Admiral of New England, and 




INDIAN WIGWAMS 



68 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



when Pocahontas arrived in 
London he went to call on her. 
He wrote to the queen, giving 
an account of her great ser- 
vices in preserving the colony 
from destruction. The letter 
had its effect; the king and 
queen received her at court 
with much honor. 

In March, 1617, Pocahontas 
was about to return to Vir- 
ginia, when she suddenly sick- 
ened and died. She lived but 
twenty-two year s — a short, 
romantic, useful, pathetic life. 
John Eolfe, her husband, re- 
turned to Virginia. Thomas 
Eolfe, her son, remained in 
London to be educated. When 
grown he married a young lady 
in England and afterward went 
back to Virginia. He was a 
man of strong character. 

Some of the leading families 
of Virginia are descended from 
Thomas Eolfe. One of the most 
noted of these was John Ean- 
dolph, of Eoanoke, who was proud of his Indian blood. "It is curi- 
ous that the blood of Powhatan should thus mingle with that of his 
old enemies. Dead for many a day, the savage old emperor still 
spoke in the voice of his great descendant, the orator of Eoanoke."* 
Powhatan died in 1618, just one year after the death of Po- 

*From Cook's "Virginia." 




A CAVALIER 



BEGINNINGS OF THE UNITED STATES 69 

cahontas. His grave is near the present Cold Harbor, the scene 
of a fierce battle during the Civil War. 

76. Indian Wars in Virginia. Virginia had three Indian Wars. 

The first began in 1632, and lasted ten years. The second began in 
1644, but did not continue so long. The third war began about 
1674. So long as Powhatan and Pocahontas lived there was no 
war. But when Powhatan's younger brother became chief, he at- 
tempted to kill all the white people, men, women and children. 
But he failed, and was finally defeated and captured. 

As a result of the first two wars, all the Indians were driven out 
of the Powhatan country, which lay between the James and the 
York rivers. This country was known in later times as the "Penin- 
sula." The last war drove the Indians to the mountains. 

77. The Cavaliers. About thirty-five j^ears after the first set- 
tlement at Jamestown the Cavaliers began to come to Virginia in 
great numbers. These Cavaliers belonged to the higher classes of 
English society. Washington, Jefferson and many other noted men 
are descended from them. Virginia has played a great part in the 
history of the nation and has given her many noble leaders. Per- 
haps this is due to the character of these Cavalier colonists. 



CHAPTER V 

SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 

78. The state Church. In former times each nation had a 
state church. Every citizen was by law a member of this church. 
Any one who was disloyal to the state church was considered dis- 
loyal to his country : that is, the church was a part of the state. 

Each nation of Europe still has a state church. All the people 
pay taxes to help to support this church, but now no one is com- 
pelled to be a member. 

The United States has no state church. It is our plan to pro- 
tect all religions, but to support none. In the further study of our 
history we shall learn how this came to be so. 

About the time that Raleigh was planning to settle America 
England passed a strict law forcing all Englishmen to worship in 
the state church. Any one who neglected to attend the state church 
for a month, or who took part in any other form of worship, was 
liable to be imprisoned until he promised to obey the law. Those 
who refused to obey were sent from the country for life. If they 
returned they were put to death. 

79. The Puritans. Many faithful members of the state church 
believed in a plain, simple form of Avorship. They were very strict 
in their way of living, and in keeping the Sabbath. For these rea- 
sons they were called in derision Puritans. 

The men wore short hair and dressed in a neat, sensible way. 
This was in striking contrast to the Cavaliers, with their gay clothes 
and large wigs of flowing hair. The Puritans, who wore no wigs, 
were called "Roundheads." 

70 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 



71 



80. The Pilgrims. In the little country town of Scrooby, about 
one hundred and fifty miles north of London, was a small band of 
Puritans known as Separatists. They were so called because they 
had separated themselves from the state church. We call them 
Pilgrims, and you shall soon see why. 

William Bradford, a member of the church at Scrooby, says 
of these people: "After they had continued together about one 
year, and kept their meetings every Sabbath, in one place or 
another . . . they, seeing they could no longer continue in that 
condition, resolved to get over to Holland.'^ 

At that time Holland was the only country in which people 
could belong to any church they wished. In 
England King James would neither permit 
them to worship as they chose, nor let them 
leave the country. So they were obliged to 
make all their plans in secret. 

During the same year that 
Jamestown was settled this 
little company made its first 
effort to leave England. Bos- 
ton was a seaport in England, 
about forty miles from Scrooby. 
It was from this place that the 
Pilgrims planned to make their 
escape. After many delays, one 
dark night, they left their hid- 
ing-places in Boston and rowed 
to their ship lying at anchor in 
the harbor. The next day, just 
as they were about to sail, the 
king's officers came on board, 
arrested them and seized all 
their books, money, clothing 







A PURITAN 



72 JUNIOR HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES 

and other valuables. They were kept in prison for a month or 
more, and then set free. 

The next spring, in 1608, a second attempt was made to reach 
Holland. As they could not trust their own countrymen, the Pil- 
grims hired a Dutch ship to carry them. The company gathered 
at Hull, north of Boston. The women and children were placed on 
board small boats and taken across the Humber Kiver to a point 
about fifteen miles distant. The men went by land. Here they 
expected to take the Dutch ship for Holland. 

As there was no ship in sight when the women arrived, they 
were taken up a small creek for rest and safety. In the morning, 
when the ship came, the women were not able to reach it. The tide 
had fallen during the night, and their boats were stuck fast in the 
mud. In the meantime the men who had walked were put on 
board the ship. 

Just then a company of English horsemen dashed in among the 
helpless women and children. The Dutch sea-captain, seeing this, 
quickly put to sea with the men, leaving the women and children 
in the hands of the soldiers. 

Young William Bradford, who was present, says: "Pitiful it 
was to see the heavy case of these poor women in their dis- 
tress ; what weeping and crying on every hand ; some for their hus- 
bands that were carried away in the ship ; others not knowing what 
should become of them and their little ones ; others again melted in 
tears, seeing their poor little ones hanging about them crying for 
fear and quaking with cold." 

The judges before whom these helpless victims were taken were 
at a loss to know what to do with them. It seemed not only cruel 
but foolish to punish the wives and children for no other crime than 
to wish to flee with their husbands and fathers from a land where 
they could not worship as they wished. They could not be 
sent to their homes, for they had none. So to their great joy they 
were set free. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 73 

81. The Pilgrims in Holland. Fortunately William Bradford, 
William Brewster, John Eobinson and other church leaders were 
not in the company of men that escaped on the Dutch ship. By the 
help of these leaders the whole band, including the women and 
children, found their way to little Holland, and the divided families 
were re-united. It was not until 1609 that the faithful members 
of this little church finally settled in Ley den, Holland, and it was 
because of their wanderings that they have since been known as the 
Pilgrims. The term Pilgrim applies only to the people who went 
to Holland, and afterward settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The 
word Puritan has a broader meaning. 

Most of the Pilgrims were farmers, but in Holland they man- 
fully went to work at anything they could find to do. Eobinson, 
their pastor, wrote and translated books. Bradford became a silk- 
weaver. Brewster gave lessons in English. Some became hatters. 
Others did ordinary manual labor. 

The Pilgrims were given a heart}^ welcome by the Dutch. They 
prospered in business, and they could worship as they chose. Yet 
with all these advantages they were not satisfied to remain in 
friendly Holland. They longed for English homes and familiar 
scenes. To them Holland was a foreign land. Its people spoke a 
strange language ; their manners seemed odd, and their Dutch cus- 
toms queer. These Pilgrims wanted their children to grow up Eng- 
lishmen even though they could not live in England. 

82. Setting Sail for America. Virginia had been settled for 
thirteen years, and was by this time a fairly prosperous colony. 
The Pilgrims now saw that America was the land in which they 
could be free to worship according to their own ideas and still 
remain Englishmen. 

After much trouble they succeeded in getting enough money 
to carry them to America. 

In the summer of 1630, the first company of Pilgrims sailed in 
the ship Speedwell from Delft-Haven, Holland, to Southampton, 



74 JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 







THE MAYFLOWER 

England. The ship was too small to carry all the company, so John 
Robinson, their pastor, and a number of others remained in Holland 
until such time as they could follow. 

At Southampton the Speedwell was joined by the Mayflower, 
which came directly from England with a band of Separatists. 
From Southampton the two vessels went to Plymouth; from there 
they started for America, but as the Speedwell proved unseaworthy, 
both vessels put back into Pl3'moutli harbor. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 



75 



One hundred men, women and children were chosen from both 
companies to sail on the Mayflower, September 16th. This clumsy, 
slow-sailing vessel then started on a voyage that marked her as one 




of the famous ships of history, and stamped her passengers as 
examples of heroic virtue. 

83 The Landing. After a voyage of sixty-six days, the Maj- 
flower was safely anchored in a little harbor on the east side of Cape 
Cod Bay. It had been the intention to settle farther south, but 
the contrary winds had driven the ship to Cape Cod. This cape 
is a projection of land in the shape of a half-opened hand, with the 



76 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

bay between the palm of the hand and the fingers. The first land- 
ing was near the end of the finger. The Pilgrims knew where they 
were, as they had with them a copy of the map made some years 
before by Captain John Smith. A month was spent in exploring 
the coast to find a suitable place for settlement. 

On December 21, 1620, a boatload of the leading men landed in 
a harbor marked on Smith's map as Plymouth. This date, December 
21st, is now celebrated as "Forefathers Day," but it was a few days 
later that the Mayflower was brought across Cape Cod Bay, and 
safely moored in the harbor. 

The Pilgrims called their new^ colony Plymouth, because that was 
the name given the locality by Smith, and was also the name of the 
English port from which they had set sail for America. 

84. A Fearful Winter. A cold current flows from the Arctic 
Ocean along the coast of New England. This current makes the 
country bordering on the north Atlantic very cold. Wliittier in 
his "Snow Bound" describes a Xew England snowstorm in De- 
cember. He says: 

A chiU, no coat, lio^vever stout, 

Of homespun stuff could quite shut out, 

A hard, dull bitterness of cold, 

That checked, mid-vein, the circling race 

Of life-blood in the sharpened face. 

The coming of a storm foretold. 

The wind blew east; we heard the roar 

Of Ocean on his wintry shore, 

And felt the strong pulse throbbing there 

Beat with low rhythm our inland air. 

We must remember that the Pilgrims had no good protection 
from such a winter. No friends were there to greet them when 
they landed. There were no warm houses to shield them from the 
storm. Savage Indians lurked in the wilds to the west of them. 
The cold, stormy Atlantic was to the east of them. Not a friend 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 77 

was within hundreds of miles to the north or south of them. The 
outlook was rather a dreary one, but they were not in search of 
ease or wealth. 

Most of the Pilgrims lived in rude huts during the winter. A 
few remained on the Mayflower until spring. During the first six 
months one-half their number died. Among these was John 
Carver, their first governor. 

These dreadful hardships call to mind the experience of the 
settlers of Jamestown. The numbers in the two settlements were 
nearly equal. One-half in each colony died within six months 
after landing. In the South the deaths were due to the warm, 
fever-breeding climate. In the North they were caused by exposure 
to the cold weather. In each case scanty and improper food made 
matters worse. Such were the beginnings of the first two abiding 
English colonies of America. 

THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHEES 

The breaking waves dashed high, 

On a stern and rock-bound coast, 
And the woods against a stormy sky 

Their giant branches tossed; 

And the heavy night hung dark 

The hills and vpaters 'er, 
When a band of exiles moored their bark 

On the wild New England shore. 

Not as the conqueror comes, 

They the true-hearted came; 
Not with the roll of the stirring drums, 

And the trumpet that sings of fame. 

Not as the flying come, 

In silence and in fear: 
They shook the depths of the desert's gloom 

With their hymns of lofty cheer. 



78 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Amid the storm they sang, 

And the stars heard, and the sea; 
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang 

To the anthem of the free. 

The ocean-eagle soared 

From his nest by the white wave's foam, 
And the rocking pines of the forest roared: 

This was their welcome home. 

There were men with hoary hair 

Amid that pilgrim band; 
.Why had they come to wither there, 

Away from their childhood's land? 

There was woman's fearless eye, 

Lit by her deep love 's truth ; 
There was manhood's brow, serenely high, 

And the fiery heart of youth. 

•What sought they thus afar? 

Bright jewels of the mine? 
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? 

They sought a faith's pure shrine! 

Ay, call it holy ground. 

The soil where first they trod ! 
They have left unstained what there they found — 

Freedom to worship God ! 

— Felicia Hemans. 

85. Bradford and "Winthrop.^ The year 1588 may be easily 
remembered, as it was the year the "Lost Colony" on Roanoke 
Island was waiting for the aid that never came. It was also the 
year in which both William Bradford and John Winthrop were 
born. 

Bradford was the governor of the Plymouth Colony. He was 
a young man when the Pilgrims fled from Scrooby to Holland. He 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 



79 



came over on the Mayflower, and upon the death of Carver, in 
1621, he was elected governor. He held this office most of the time 
until his death in 1657. 

Winthrop was governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 

Bradford was the historian of the Pilgrims of Plymouth, and 
Winthrop wrote the history of the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay. 
Bradford and Winthrop were to New England what John Smith 




PLYMOUTH ROCK 



was to Virginia. It is from these three governors that we re- 
ceive much of our knowledge of the Virginia, the Plymouth, and 
the Massachusetts Bay colonies. 

Bradford's "History of the Plymouth Plantation" and Win- 
throp's "History of New England" were not printed until long 
after their authors died. For many years these books were thought 
to be lost. 

86. The Indians. One day in early spring the Pilgrims were 
surprised by a visit from an Indian named Samoset. The red man 
startled them by saying in broken English: "Welcome, English- 



80 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

men." He told them of another Indian, Squanto, who could speak 
good English. 

Squanto had lived in the very place where the Pilgrims now 
were. He had been captured some years before by an English 
captain who took him to Europe. While Squanto was absent from. 
America a dreadful disease had swept away most of the Indians 
along the New England coast. His own tribe had vanished with 
the others. 

He taught the Pilgrims how to set their traps, plant the corn 
and care for it, where to fish, how to catch eels, and when and how 
to obtain food. 

Squanto is not so interesting as Pocahontas, but he helped the 
Plymouth colony very much as Pocahontas aided the Jamestown 
people. Had it not been for them, both colonies might have been 
failures. 

A few days after Samoset's first visit he came again to the 
colony. This time he brought with him Squanto, Massasoit, the 
chief of the Wampanoags, and other Indians. A treaty between 
the Pilgrims and Massasoit was made. Eor more than fifty years 
this treaty was faithfully kept by both the white men and the 
Indians. The Narragansett Indians, living to the west of Narra- 
gansett Bay, were the enemies of Massasoit's Indians. That may 
have been one of the reasons why Massasoit was so ready to be 
friendly with the white man. 

About a year after the landing of the Pilgrims a Narragansett 
Indian brought to Plymouth a bundle of arrows tied together with 
a large snake-skin. Squanto told Governor Bradford these arrows 
were to show that the Indians wanted to fight the white people. 
Bradford filled the snake-skin with bullets and returned it. He 
sent word to the Narragansett chief that the white man had done 
the Indian no wrong, but if he wanted war, he could have it. The 
snake-skin and bullets were soon sent back to Plymouth, as the 
Indians dared not receive them. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 81 

This event startled the Pilgrims and they made ready to fight 
should the Indians attack the settlement. But the Indians did not 
come. For fifty-four years the Pilgrims and the Narragansetts 
lived in peace with each other. 

87. The First Thanksgiving Day. The first corn crop of the 
colony, gathered in 1621, was good. Though not very large, it was 
sufficient to carry the settlers through the year, until another crop 
could be gathered. Deer and that famous American bird the wild 
turkey were abimdant. Cod, bass and other fish also were plenti- 
ful. With this variety of food, and comfortable houses which had 
been prepared for the winter, all were now in good health. 

After the harvest had been gathered and stored away, Gov- 
ernor Bradford sent out a hunting party to bring in an extra 
supply of venison and wild turkey, so that the people might have 
a feast and give thanks for the blessings of the year. This feast, 
with its cranberries and turkey, was the beginning of Thanksgiving 
Day in America. 

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 
We had gathered in our harvests, 
And stored the yellow grain, 
For God had sent the sunshine, 
And sent the plenteous rain. 
Our barley-land and corn-land 
Had yielded up their store, 
And the fear and dread of famine 
Oppressed our homes no more. 

As the chosen tribes of Israel, 

In the far years of old, 

When the summer fruits were garnered, 

And before the winter's cold, 

Kept their festal week with gladness, 

W^ith songs and choral lays, 

So we kept our first Thanksgiving 

In the hazy autumn days. 



82 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 




THE PILGRIMS' FIRST WASH-DAY IN AMERICA 



Through the mild months of summer, 
We had built U3 pleasant homes, 
So that now we fear no danger. 
When the angry winter comes; 
We can sit by cheerful firesides 
And watch the flickering ray, 
When the storms of ocean gather 
And howl around the bay. 

We think with grief and sadness 
Of the gloomy months gone by, 
When want was in our dwellings, 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 83 

Aud we saw our loved ones die; 
But when our well filled garners 
Moved all our hearts to praise, 
We kept our glad Thanksgiving 
In the soft October days. 

We sent our keen eyed gunners 
To the forest haunts for game, 
And with ample wealth of wild fowl, 
Eejoieing home they came; 
And our good Indian neighbors, 
With whom we live in peace 
Brought in their gift of hunted deer, 
Our larder to increase. 

And Massasoit the chieftain, 
Was present with us then; 
He came to share our banquet 
With his ninety dusky men; 
So for three days we feasted, 
With sports, and games, and plays. 
And kept our first Thanksgiving 
In the fair autumnal days. 

The winds breathed gently on us 
From out the mild Southwest; 
They come, the Indians tell us. 
From the islands of the blest; 
And the sun and moon looked kindly 
From the still heights above, 
As if to cheer our banquet, 
And bless our feast of love. 

And our brave Captain Standish, 

Brought up mid war's alarms, 

Led out his small but trusty band, 

His sturdy men-at-arms; 

He showed the Indian warriors 

Our military ways; 

For so we kept Thanksgiving 

In those hazy autumn days. 



84 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

We thought of dear old England, 
Dear, though to us unkind; 
Of the fond familiar faces 
That we had left behind; 
But England cannot wean us 
Back from our forest home, 
Where we lay our sure foundations 
For the better years to come. 

So we passed the days in gladness, 

In social joy and mirth. 

As those who have their dwelling-place 

As yet upon the earth; 

But to the Lord our God we brought 

Our gifts of prayer and praise; 

So we kept our first Thanksgiving 

In the dreamy autumn days. 

— Increase Tarbox. 

88. The Newcomers. Shortly after this first Thanksgiving 
celebration, thirty-five men from England came to Plymouth. They 
had come in a very small ship and had brought nothing with them, 
so that when they landed they had no food. Most of them were 
strong young men of the daring, happy-go-lucky sort. The Pil- 
grims were glad to receive them, as they could be helpful in many 
ways, but they nearly doubled the number who must be fed from 
the small stock of food just gathered. 

On Christmas Day, as on other days. Governor Bradford ordered 
all the men out to work. The young men said it was against their 
consciences to work on Christmas Day, so he good-naturedly al- 
lowed them to remain at home. At noon when he returned from 
his work he found them playing stool ball, a game much like our 
cricket. He told them that it w^s against his conscience for them 
to play while others worked and said if they could not work on 
Christmas Day they must spend it in their homes. 

89. The Second Harvest. The second year's harvest was not 
enough for a full year's supply of food. The hopeful Pilgrims 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 



85 



looked for help from England. As none came, the spring of 1623 
found them in great distress. After their corn had been planted 
there was little left for food. For several months they lived with- 
out bread. At last the supply of corn was reduced to a single 
pint in the whole colony. It was then divided among the people; 
each person received five kernels. 

Two hundred years later, in 1820, a great celebration in memory 
of the landing of the Pilgrims was held at Plymouth. At a ban- 
quet given during this celebration each guest found beside his plate 
five grains of parched corn. This was to remind the feasters 
of the time when 
those heroic men 
and women, the Pil- 
grims, were actu- 
ally in want of even 
a single mouthful 
of bread. 

90. The Land 
Divided. After 
two years' experi- 
ence Governor 
Bradford thought 
he could get better 
crops if each person 
had a piece of 
ground to work for 
himself. Up to this 
time all the land 
had been worked 
together and the 
people had been fed 
from a common 
store of food. By pounding corn 




-4i„t 



86 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

the new plan, each family was given a small tract of land, its size 
according to the number in the family. On this ground each fam- 
ily raised the crop of com and other food plants. The results were 
good. The third crop produced food enough for a whole year. The 
Pilgrims now had plenty of pigs and poultry. In 1624 cattle were 
brought across the sea, and from this time there was no more suffer- 
ing from want of food. 

But the colony grew slowly. At the end of four years it num- 
bered less than two hundred. After ten years there were only 
three hundred. After 1630, however, there was a steady growth. 

91. Captain Miles Standish was not a Puritan. He met the 
Pilgrims in Holland, and liked them so well that he came to 
America with them. He was the soldier-hero of the little colony. 
In history, poetry and fiction he has been much honored for his 
bravery. It is not necessary to repeat what has been so well said 
by others.* 

92. Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1630, ten years after the 
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, a strong colony of Puritans 
settled Boston and other places along the coast. This is known 
as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Winthrop was its first 
governor. Two years before a smaller company, under Governor 
Endicott, had settled near Cape Ann, now Salem. 

Soon after coming to America the colonies north of Plymouth 
organized themselves into an independent church; we now know 
it as the Congregational Church. These people were well-to-do, and 
came prepared for a new country. Though they had trials common 
to all new settlers, they prospered from the first, and had no such 
hardships as the Pilgrims suffered. 

93. Tall Oaks from Little Acorns. Some may like to know 
why so much interest is taken in the Puritans. It is because these 

•Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish," Mrs. Stowe's "Mayflower" 
and Mrs. Austen's "Standish of Standish" and "Betty Alden" tell the story 
of Miles Standish, John Alden and Priscilla Mulllns. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 87 

people settled New England, and New England's children did 
much to make us a great nation. 

Our favorite poets — Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Holmes, 
Bryant and Poe — were all born in New England. 

We are perhaps not so well acquainted with some of the other 
great literary men, such as Bancroft, Motley, Parker, Prescott and 
Hawthorne, who were descendants of the New England Puritans. 
Many of our great statesmen, warriors, educators, inventors, preach- 
ers and other men of note came from New England. 

In New England our public school system had its origin. Here 
began 

The rhyming and the chiming of the bells, 
The school-bells. 

As the people moved west, each new settlement was marked 

By the jingling and the tinkling of the bells, 
The school-bells. 

When the slaves were set free at the close of the great Civil War 
these public schools found their way into the Southland, where they 
had never been before. Now at each morning hour, to every 
American boy and girl, east, west, north or south. 

What a world of merriment their melody foretells, 
The bells, the school-bells. 

The oak was in the acorn. 

EXERCISE ON NEW ENGLAND 

What do you understand by a state church? Why were some 
people in England called Puritans? Why were they also called 
Koundheads? Wliy did the Pilgrims want to go to Holland? 
May we worship as we choose ? Tell in your own words the efforts 
of the Pilgrims to escape to Holland. Where did they finally settle 
in Holland? WTien did they start for America? When did they 



88 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



reach America ? For what was each of the following ships famous : 
The Pinta? The Matthew? The Santa Maria? The Mayflower? 
Give the date of "Forefathers' Day." ^^^ly is it so called? De- 
scribe in your own language the landing of the Pilgrims. Tell what 
you can about William Bradford. Tell something about John 
Winthrop. What three governors each wrote a history of his own 
colony? Tell about Samoset and Squanto. Wlio were the Wam- 

panoags? Name their great 
chief. Tell about the treaty 
between the Wampanoags and 
the whites. ^Yhsit can you say 
of the first Thanksgiving Day 
and dinner? Who were the 
Narragansetts ? Tell the story 
of the snake-skin and arrows. 
For how many years did the 
New England people live in 
peace with the Wampanoags 
and the Narragansetts? Tell 
about the Pilgrims' want of 
food. ^Vliat did Bradford do to 
improve matters? Say a few 
Avords about Miles Standish. 
Give a short account of the set- 
tlement of Boston. What was 
the difference between a Pilgrim and a Puritan ? Name some great 
men who were born in New England. Tell about the growth of the 
American public school system. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

In what direction is Plymouth from Cape Cod ? From Boston ? 
From Cape Ann? In what direction is Salem from Boston ? Where 
were the Narragansetts ? The Wampanoags ? Where is Narragan- 




SETTLEMENTS ON 
MASSACHUSETTS COAST 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 89 

sett Bay? Massachusetts Bay? Cape Cod Bay? Providence? 
Newport? Buzzards Bay? 

94. Roger Williams and Rhode Island. Roger Williams was 
born in London in 1607. This date we can easily remember be- 
cause it is the year of the Jamestown settlement, and it is also 
the year the Pilgrims tried to go to Holland. 

He came to Boston only a few months later than did John 
Winthrop with his large company of people. That is, Boston was 
not yet a year old when Williams came to make it his home. 

By subtracting 1607 from 1631, we find that he was twenty- 
four years old when he came to America. 

He was an educated man and had prepared himself for work 
in the church as a pastor. He preached some in Boston and in 
Salem, north of Boston; but after a few months the leading men 
of the two places would not let him preach in their churches. He 
was an uneasy man, and talked against a good many things which 
he thought were wrong, but which the leaders thought were right. 

It would make the story too long should we tell about all the 
trouble between Williams and the colony ; we will speak of only two 
disagreements. 

The first was about the purchase of the land on which the 
colony lived. The people had bought the land of the King of Eng- 
land, but Williams said the king did not own it, it belonged to the 
Indians. Probably he did not greatly care how much had been 
paid the king for the land, but he thought it wrong not to pay the 
Indians. 

Another trouble was about those who were church members and 
those who were not. No one could vote who was not a member of 
the church in the colony. The rulers tried to make every one go to 
church on the Sabbath, and they would punish him if he did not. 
Roger Williams thought all that was wrong, and that every one 
should be allowed to worship in his own way. 



90 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The leaders of the colony finally decided to send him back to 
England. He heard what they were going to do, so he fled south- 
ward through the woods until he came near Narragansett Bay. 
This was in mid-winter, but the Indians took him into their wig- 
wams, where they fed and warmed him, and protected him until 
spring. 

Four friends fled with him; many others joined him the next 
spring. This little company, under the leadership of Williams, 
bought some land of the Indians and built a city on it. This city 
Williams called Providence, because God's providence had been 
with him and his friends in their flight. 

This was the beginning of Ehode Island. 

95. Connecticut and Thomas Hooker. The summer before the 
flight of Eoger Williams, the Eev. Thomas Hooker, with about 
one hundred of his people, traveled across the country through 
the woods from Boston to the Connecticut Eiver. Here a settle- 
ment was made and called Connecticut. 

The first towns founded were Springfield, Windsor,-' Hartford 
and Wethersfield. Saybrook, near the mouth of the Connecticut 
Eiver, and New Haven, on Long Island Sound, were joined to 
Connecticut a little later. Springfield became a part of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Hooker was a good deal like Williams in what he thought was 
right. He did not flee like Williams, but he did not agree with 
the Boston and Salem people about many things. He believed the 
people ought to have more freedom and that all freemen should 
have a right to vote, whether they belonged to the church or not. 

So these people on the Connecticut Eiver organized a new 
state, where all who obeyed the laws could live in peace. This was 
the beginning of Connecticut. Some time we shall learn about 
Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. 

96. Indian "Wars of New England. New England had two 
Indian wars, the Pequot War and King Philip's War. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 



91 



M aJs S. 



The Mohegans lived along the lower part of the Connecticut 
Eiver. The Narragansetts were west of Narragansett Bay. The 
Pequots were between these two. 

The Mohegans gladly welcomed Hooker and his friends when 
they settled in the Connecticut Valley, but the Pequots did not like 
* this movement of the 

whites, and soon began to 
kill the Connecticut settlers. 
A short war followed and 
all the Pequots were killed 
or captured or driven from 
the country. The captured 
Indians were sold as slaves 
in the West Indies. 

The Pequots, before the 
beginning of the war, asked 
the Narragansetts to join 
them in fighting the white 
people. But Roger Williams, 
the Indians' friend, per- 
suaded the Narragansetts 
not to take part in the war, 
so the Pequots were left 
alone to do their own 
fighting. 

Massasoit, the old friend 

of the Pilgrims, was dead. 

His son Philip was now 

chief of the Wampanoags. 

Philip was not so friendly with the colonists as his father had 

been. He felt that in many ways the white men had dealt unfairly 

with his people. 

The red man's hunting-grounds were fast changing into white 




BEGINNING OP CONNECTICUT 



92 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

men's farms. The Indians looked upon these lands as their own 
and could not see what right the white men had to crowd them 
out. They could not get new hunting grounds farther west because 
other Indians were already there. So they determined to drive the 
pale-faces from the land if they could. 

In King Philip's War the Narragansetts and other tribes 
joined the Wampanoags, and for almost two years there was a bitter 
struggle between the colonists and the Indians. 

By this time the towns and villages of New England were 
scattered over a large area. At first war was made only upon the 
Plymouth colony; then the people of other colonies were attacked, 
even those of peaceful Ehode Island. Whole settlements were 
burned and their inhabitants killed. 

During these two terrible years no man dared to stir from the 
house without his arms, for he never knew when a stealthy foe 
might be lurking in the woods near by. Even when he was asleep 
the settler had his gun close at hand, and as he went about his work, 
in the field or shop, it lay within reach. Men always went armed 
to church, and any man who forgot to carry with him at least 
five pounds of powder and shot was fined. Extra ammunition was 
stored in the meeting-houses. The white men grew almost as crafty 
and cruel as their red foes, and when they took an Indian village or 
fort they treated their captives with little mercy. 

The colonists offered to make peace, but the Indians would not 
hear of it. But it was the Indians who were first worn out by the 
the struggle. At last Philip felt that his enemies w-ere too strong 
for him. He retreated to his home on Mount Hope. Here he was 
surprised by a company of soldiers led by Colonel Church, and in 
trying to escape was shot. 

After the death of King Philip Annawan was the only chief 
to continue the fight. He had less than a hundred warriors left. 

Colonel Church with a small company of soldiers came upon 
this band of Indians while they were camped at the foot of a very 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 93 

steep hill. Church's only hope was to surprise them. As he had 
already captured an old man and his daughter from Annawan's 
party, he planned to make use of them. 

At early evening he sent them down the hill, to the Indians 
sitting about the campfire. He walked behind, in their shadow. 
A squaw was preparing supper, and she made so much noise 
pounding corn in a mortar that no one noticed the white enemy 
as he stole into the red man's camp. 

Church and his men quickly seized the Indians' guns, which 
were piled up together. Annawan, seeing he was caught, gave 
himself up. 

He invited Church and his men to take supper with him. After 
the evening meal all lay down to sleep. But Church and Annawan 
could not sleep, and lay watching each other for a long time. At 
last Annawan got up and walked away into the darkness. Church 
feared the Indian had gone to get a gun, and would come back and 
shoot him. He moved close up to Annawan's son, so that the old 
chief would not dare to shoot. 

Annawan came back and instead of a gun he brought a bundle. 
He opened this in front of Colonel Church. There lay King 
Philip's red blanket, his powder-horn and two wampum belts. One 
of these belts Philip had worn around his body and the other on 
his head, as a sort of crown. These had been as precious to the 
Indian chief as the crown and scepter are to a real king among 
white men. 

Annawan told Church these things were now his as conqueror. 
He said that Philip was dead and the white man ruled the country. 
The two men spent the rest of the night in talking together as 
friends. 

Thus ended the last Indian war in Massachusetts. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 

97. New Netherland. We remember that the English, Dutch 
and French all wanted to find a short route to India. Cape Horn 
and the Cape of Good Hope are so far south that it is a long 
Journey around them from these northern countries to India, 
China and Japan. But Spain and Portugal, so far as they were 
able to do so, kept all other nations from sailing around these 
capes. 

The Dutch and English both hoped to find a northern passage 
through the Arctic Ocean. It will be seen by looking at a globe or 
a world map that there is an ocean, with no land in the way ; but 
there are great ice-fields that will not let ships pass.* 

98. Henry Hudson was an Englishman, and a friend of 
Captain John Smith. In 1607, the year of the Jamestown 
settlement, he was sent by an English company to find a route 
to India by way of the Arctic Ocean. He sailed north until 
stopped by great fields of ice. The next year a second attempt 
was made, but again icebergs lay across his path. By this time the 
English company became discouraged, and gave up trying to ex- 
plore the Arctic Ocean. 

But Hudson found something besides ice. He saw large num- 
bers of whales. The English company believed that whale-fishing 
would be more profitable than exploring icy seas and it decided to 
give its attention to catching whales. 

•Globe-lessons, or lessons from wall-maps, are in order at this time. 

94 



THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 



95 



The Dutch took up the work dropped by the English. Knowing 
Hudson to be the greatest sailor of his time, they persuaded him 
to command an expedition under the Dutch flag. In 1609, in a 




NORTH ATLANTIC AND ARCTIC OCEANS 



small ship called the Half-Moon, he sailed northeast until he was 
north of Kussia. But his friend Captain John Smith had suggested 
to him that a passage through North America might be found in 
northern Virginia. 



96 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



HEAD Of 

Tioe WAxew 







When he found it was hopeless to attempt 
to go any farther northeast, he turned and 
sailed westward across the Atlantic, to try 
his fortune in the new world. He struck 
Xorth America near Newfoundland. From 
here he sailed south along the coast, follow- 
ing the path taken by Sebastian Cabot one 
hundred and eleven years before. He went 
as far south as Chesapeake Bay, but did not 
enter it. Perhaps he did not care to visit 
his English friends while in command of a 
Dutch ship. As this was in 1609, the James- 
tovm. colony was but two years old. 

Eeturning north along the coast, Hudson 
found New York Harbor. The Half-Moon 
was the first of millions of ships that have 
entered this noble harbor. The Dutch crew 
were the first white men to set foot upon 
Manhattan Island, the site of Xew York city 
and the home of three million people. 

Hudson sailed up the beautiful river that 
now bears his name. He thought he had 
found a strait that perhaps might lead into 
the Pacific Ocean. When we know' the char- 
acter of the Hudson Eiver, we are not sur- 
prised at the mistake. In its lower course it 
has a very slow current; so slight it is that 
the ocean tide is felt at Albany, one hundred 
and forty-five miles from its mouth. This 
fact made Hudson think that it was not a 
river but a strait. As the Half-Moon sailed up the river the 
Indians in their canoes gathered around in great numbers. At first 
some of them were hostile, but others farther up the river were 




HUDSON RIVEE 



THE DUTCH IN AMEKICA 97 

very friendly. Hudson traded with the Indians, giving them 
trinkets in exchange for food and furs. 

He went as far north as the present site of Albany. Here the 
water flowed more swiftly, so he knew that he was in a river and 
not a strait. 

The same year that this famous river was discovered a 
Frenchman named Champlain found Lake Champlain, only a few 
miles north of the Hudson. The two explorers had come within a 
hundred miles of each other. 

Hudson returned home, and was soon after sent out by the 
English to find a northwest passage around North America. On 
this expedition he discovered Hudson's Bay. 

While in this great bay Hudson's crew got into a quarrel. So 
cruel were they in their anger that they put the great explorer and 
some sick sailors in a little boat and set them adrift to perish or 
to save themselves as best as they could. Nothing was ever heard 
of these unfortunate men, but the name of Hudson is honored, and 
will never be lost to the world so long as this great bay and the 
beautiful river remain. 

The man who began the quarrel which led to this awful 
crime died before the ship reached England. 

EXERCISE ON ROUTES TO INDIA 

What ocean is north of Eurasia? Of North America? Be- 
tween Europe and America ? Between Asia and America ? South of 
Asia? If no ice were in the way, could ships sail through the 
Arctic Ocean from England to China? Why could not ships sail 
from the Mediterranean Sea into the Eed Sea two hundred years 
ago? Can they do so now? Name the isthmus between the 
Mediterranean and the Red seas. Can ships now pass from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific between North and South America? Why? 
What isthmus connects North and South America ? 



98 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

A SCENE IN THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS.* 

In a long ramble ... on a fine autumnal day. Rip had un- 
consciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill 
Mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrel-shooting, 
and the still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the reports of 
his gun. Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the after- 
noon, on a green knoll covered with mountain herbage, that crowned 
the brow of a precipice. From an opening between the trees, he 
could overlook all the lower country for many a mile of rich wood- 
land. He saw at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, 
moving on its silent but majestic course, with the reflection of a 
purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping 
on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue highlands. 

On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, 
wild, lonely and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from 
the cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting 
sun. For some time Eip lay musing on this scene; evening was 
gradually advancing ; the mountains began to throw their long blue 
shadows over the valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before 
he could reach the village. . . . 

As he was about to descend he heard a voice from a distance 
hallooing, "Eip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" He looked 
around, but could see nothing but a crow winging its solitary flight 
across the mountain. He thought his fancy must have deceived 
him, and turned again to descend, when he heard the same cry 
ring through the still evening air, "Rip Van Winkle ! Rip Van 
Winkle!" . . . 

Rip now felt a vague fear stealing over him ; he looked anxiously 
in the same direction, and saw a strange figure slowly toiling up 
the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he carried 
on his back. He was surprised to see any human being in this 
lonely place, but, supposing it to be some one of the neighborhood 
in need of his assistance, he hastened down to yield it. 

On nearer approach, he was still more surprised at the stranger's 
appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with thick, 
bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the old Dutch 

•From Irvlng's "Rip Van Winkle." The exact language of the author is 
used except where his words are supposed not to be la the young student's 
vocabulary. 



THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 99 

fashion — a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist — several pair 
of breeches, the outer one very large, decorated with rows of buttons 
down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulders 
a stout keg that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to 
approach and assist him with the load. . . . Rip did so and 
. . . they clambered up a narrow gully, apparently the dry 
bed of a mountain torrent. As they ascended, Rip every now and 
then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that seemed 
to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft, between lofty rocks, 
toward which their rugged path conducted. . . . Passing 
through the ravine, they came to a hollow. . , . 

On a level spot in the center was a company of odd-looking 
persons playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in strange clothes ; 
some wore doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, 
and most of them had enormous breeches . . . Their faces, 
too, were peculiar; one had a large head, broad face, and small 
piggish eyes; the face of another seemed all nose . . . They 
all had beards, of various shapes and colors. There was one who 
seemed to be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with 
a weather-beaten face; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and 
hanger, high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high- 
heeled shoes, with roses in them. The whole group reminded Rip of 
the figures in an old Flemish painting, in the parlor of the village 
parson, and which had been brought over from Holland at the time 
of the settlement. 

What seemed very odd to Rip was that though these folks were 
evidently amusing themselves, yet they kept the gravest faces, the 
most mysterious silence, and were the most melancholy party of 
pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness 
of the scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were 
rolled, echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder. 

As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly 
desisted from their play, and stared at him with such a fixed 
statue-like gaze that his heart turned within him, and his knees 
knocked together. His companion now emptied the contents of the 
keg into large flagons, and made signs to him to wait upon the 
company. He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaffed the 
liquor in deep silence, and then returned to their game. 

By degrees. Rip's awe subsided. He even ventured, when no 
eye was fixed upon him, to taste the liquor. He was naturally a 



100 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



thirsty soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One 
taste provoked another, and he visited the flagon so often that at 
length his eyes swam in his head, his head drooped and he fell into 
a deep sleep. 

On waking, Ire found himself on the green knoll from whence 







THE HALF-MOON 



he had first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes — 
it was a bright, sunny morning. The birds were hopping and 
twittering among the Isushes, and the eagle was flying above him 
in the pure mountain breeze. "Surely," thought Eip, "I have not 
slept here all night. ... 

As he approached the village, he met a number of people, but 
none whom he knew, which surprised him, for he had thought he 



THE DUTCH IN AMERICA JOl 

knew every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of a 
different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all 
stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast 
eyes upon him they stroked their chins. This made Eip do the 
same, when he found his beard had grown a foot long ! . . . 

He found that no one in the village knew him. He asked for 
his son and some one pointed to a young man instead of to the 
little boy he knew. A young woman passed by and he found she 
was his daughter, grown up and married. He caught her in his 
arms. "I am your father!" cried he. "Does nobody know poor 
Eip Van Winkle l" 

All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among 
the crowd, put her hand to her brow, and peering under it in his 
face for a moment, cried, "Sure enough ! It is Hip Van Winkle — 
it is himself. Welcome home again, old neighbor — why, where have 
you been these twenty long years ?" 

Rip's story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been 
to him but as one night. . . . The neighbors stared when they 
heard it . . . There was a general shaking of the head 
throughout the crowd. 

It was determined, however, to take the opinion of old Peter 
Vanderdonk, who was seen slowly coming up the road . . . 
Peter was the oldest inhabitant of the village, and knew all the 
wonderful events and traditions of the neighborhood. He recol- 
lected Eip at once. He told the company that it was a fact that 
the Kaatskill Mountains had always been haunted by strange beings. 
He had heard that the great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer 
of the river and country, kept a kind of vigil there every twenty 
years, with his crew of the Half-Moon. Thus he was permitted to 
keep a guardian eye upon the river and the great city called by his 
name. Peter said that his father had once seen them in their old 
Dutch dresses playing at nine-pins in a hollow of the mountain; 
and that he himself had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound 
of their balls, like distant peals of thunder . . . 

99. The Fur-Trading Period. Let us go back a little. When 
Henry Hudson reached England, after his discovery of the Hudson 
River, he made a report of his work to the Dutch East India 
Company, by whom he was sent out. This company seemed to care 



102 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

but little for his discoveries; indeed they were much disappointed 
that he had not found a shorter route for their eastern commerce, 
which was large and profitable. 

But some Dutch merchants saw a chance for trade with the 
Indians. They built forts and set up trading-posts on Manhattan 
Island and at Fort Orange. Soon a paying business had sprung up 
between these merchants and the Indians. This trade was carried 
on between the Delaware Eiver at the south, and the Connecticut 
Eiver to the east. 

Through this vast tract the Indian roamed, hunted and trapped 
to obtain furs to sell to the Dutch traders. The bear, the mink, the 
otter and the beaver were plentiful, and the Indians were good 
trappers; but the Dutch traders were the gainers. They bought 
the furs from the Indian for very little of real value, and in turn 
sold them in Europe at high prices. Many times the red men re- 
ceived payment in whiskey, or as they called it, "fire-water." This, 
of course, did them harm. Sometimes they were given guns in 
exchange for their furs. Guns enabled them to do better hunting, 
but of course fire-arms made the red man more dangerous than 
ever to the white man. 

100. Traders and Settlers. The Dutch West India Company 
was formed in 1631. The purpose of this company was not only 
to carry on the fur-trade, but to form settlements. 

In the spring of 1623 the ship New Netherland brought over 
many families, mostly "Walloons." These people were the first 
real settlers in New York. They were Protestants who had fled 
from Belgium to Holland. 

Trading-posts and settlements were made on the North (or 
Hudson) Eiver, on the South (or Delaware) Eiver, and on the 
Connecticut Eiver. 

The settlement on Manhattan Island was called New Amster- 
dam, but the name has since been changed to New York. 

The trading-post and settlement on the Hudson near the 



THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 103 

mouth of the Mohawk was named Fort Orange. It is now called 
Albany. 

Manhattan Island was kept b}' the company for its own use. 
In order to get a good title to the island, Peter Minuit, the first of 
the four Dutch governors, bought it of the Indians for about 
twenty-four dollars' worth of trinkets. 

The second governor of New Netherland was Wouter Van 
Twiller. Washington Irving calls him *^alter the Doubter." 
William Kiefts, or "William the Testy," was the third gov- 
ernor. The fourth, and best of all, was Peter Stuyvesant, or 
"Peter the Headstrong." 

101. New York. In 1664, just fifty years after the first 
Dutch trading-post was established on Manhattan Island, the Eng- 
lish seized the country. Xew Amsterdam was now renamed Xew 
York. From this time until the Eevolution, in 1776, New York 
remained a thriving royal province of England. 

PETER STUYVESANT^ THE LAST DUTCH GOVERNOR* 

Peter Stuyvesant was a tough, sturdy, valiant, weather-beaten, 
mettlesome, obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted old governor. To 
say merely that he was a hero would be doing him great injustice — 
he was in truth a combination of heroes — for he was of a sturdy, 
rawbone make, with a pair of round shoulders that Hercules would 
have given his hide for (meaning his lion's hide), when he under- 
took to ease old Atlas of his load. 

He was not only terrible for the force of his arm, but likewise 
of his voice, which sounded as though it came out of a barrel; he 
had a contempt for the will of the people, and an iron eye which 
was enough of itself to make his enemy quake wdth terror and 
dismay. All this was greatly heightened by an accidental advan- 
tage. This was nothing less than a wooden leg, which was the only 
prize he had gained, in bravely fighting the battles of his country, 
but of which he was so proud, that he was often heard to declare 

♦From Irving's "Knickerbocker History of New York." The language of 
the author is used except when beyond the understanding of the reader. Only 
such parts as are necessary to the description of the governor are given. 



104 



JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 



NEW 

NETHER LAND 
AND 

VICINITY 



he valued it more than all his 
other limbs put together; indeed 
so highly did he esteem it, that he 
had it gallantly encased with sil- 
ver devices, which caused it to be 
told in divers histories and 
legends that he wore a silver leg. 
He was in fact, the very oppo- 
site of the other Dutch governors, 
neither inert, like Walter the 
Doubter, nor restless, like Wil- 
liam the Testy; but a man, or 
rather a governor, of such activity 
and decision of mind that he never 
sought or took the advice of oth- 
ers. To tell the simple truth, he 
wanted no other requisite for a 
perfect statesman than to think 
always right, for no one can deny 
that he always acted ashe thought; 
nor did this virtue escape the no- 
tice of the good people of New 
Netherland; on the contrary, so 
high an opinion had they of the 
independent mind and vigorous 
intellect of their now governor, 
that the)'' called him Hardkoppig 
Piet, or Peter the Headstrong — a 
great compliment to his under- 
standing. 

The British fleet had already 
come to anchor in the bay, and 
consisted of two stout frigates, having on board three hundred 
valiant red-coats. Having taken a survey of the fleet Peter sat 
himself down, and wrote an epistle to the commander, demanding 
the reason of his anchoring in the harbor without obtaining permis- 
sion so to do. 

Having sent the letter, the grim Peter stamped to and fro 
about the town, his hands thrust into his breeches pockets, and 
whistling a low Dutch psalm tune, which bore no small resemblance 




THE DUTCH IN AMEEICA 



105 



to the music of a north-east wind, when a storm is brewing. The 
very dogs, as they eyed him, skulked away in dismay, while all the 
old and ugly women of New Amsterdam ran howling at his heels, 
imploring him to save them from murder and robbery. 

The reply of Colonel Nichols, who commanded the invaders, 
demanded the surrender of the town, forts, etc., promising at the 




FOKT OF NEW AMSTERDAM 



same time, life, liberty, estate and free trade, to every Dutch denizen 
who should readily submit to his majesty's government. 

The old governor, thrusting the summons into his breeches 
pocket, stalked three times across the room, took a pinch of snuff, 
and then loftily waving his hand, promised to send an answer the 
next morning. 

In the meantime, he called a council of war, not for the purpose 
of asking advice, but to make known to the council his own deter- 
mination. 

Before, however, he convened his council, he resolved upon three 
important points: first, never to give up the city without a little 
hard fighting ; secondly, that the majority of his grand council was 



106 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

composed of arrant poltroons, utterly destitute of true bottom, and, 
thirdly, that he would not therefore suffer them to see the summons 
of Colonel Nichols, lest the easy terms it held out, might induce 
them to ask for a surrender . . . 

At the hall of assembly, the members of the council took their 
seats, and awaited in fearful silence the arrival of the governor. In 
a few minutes the wooden leg of Peter was heard in regular and 
stout-hearted thumps upon the staircase . . . 

Addressing the grand council, the great Peter touched briefly 
upon the perils and hardships he had sustained in escaping from his 
crafty foes . . . He now called on those who had been so 
valiant in their threats against Great Britain, to stand forth, and 
support their words by their actions — for it was deeds not words, 
that showed the spirit of a nation . . . 

Finally, he informed them of the insolent summons he had re- 
ceived to surrender, but concluded by swearing to defend the 
province as long as Heaven was on his side, and he had a wooden 
leg to stand upon — ^which noble sentence he emphasized by a tre- 
mendous thwack with the broadside of his sword upon the table, 
that totally electrified his auditors . . . 

Some, who had been brought into perfect discipline, saw that 
there was no use in saying a word, lighted their pipes and smoked 
away in silence . . . Others, mustering fresh spirit, when they 
found there was some chance of escaping from their present danger 
without fighting, requested a copy of the summons to surrender. 

So insolent a request would have been enough to have roused 
the tranquil Van Twiller himself. What then, must have been its 
effect upon the great Stuyv^esant, Avho M'as not only a Dutchman, a 
governor, and a valiant wooden-legged soldier to boot, but also a 
man of gunpowder disposition. He burst forth into a blaze of noble 
indignation — swore not a mother's son of them should see a syllable 
of it — that they deserved, every one of them, to be hanged for 
daring to question his government — that as to their advice, he did 
not care a whiff of tobacco for it; but that they might go home, and 
go to bed like old women; for he was determined to defend the 
colony, himself, without their assistance. So saying, he tucked 
his sword under his arm, cocked his hat upon his head, and 
stumped out of the council chamber — everybody making room for 
him to pass. 

Governor Stuyvesant, having put his grand council to route, 



THE DUTCH IN AMERICA 107 

dispatched a reply to the commander of the invading squadron; 
wherein he asserted the right and title of the Lord States General 
to the province of New Netherland, and trusting to the righteous- 
ness of his cause, set the whole British nation at defiance ! . . . 
Thus having thrown the gauntlet, the brave Peter stuck a pair of 
horse-pistols in his belt, girded an immense powder-horn on his 
side, thrust a sound leg into a Hessian boot, and clapping his 
fierce little war hat on the top of his head, paraded up and down 
in front of his house, determined to defend his beloved city to 
the last . . . 

WTiile all these struggles were prevailing in the unhappy 
city of New Amsterdam, the English commanders had agents 
circulating, far and wide, through the adjacent countr}^, a 
proclamation, repeating the terms they had already held out in 
their summons to surrender . . . They promised that every 
man who submitted to the authority of his British Majesty, should 
retain peaceable possession of his house, his vrouw, and his cab- 
bage-garden. That he should be suffered to smoke his pipe, speak 
Dutch and import bricks, tiles and stone jugs from Holland, instead 
of manufacturing them on the spot. That he should on no account 
be compelled to learn the English language, or keep accounts in 
an}^ other way than by casting them upon his fingers and chalking 
them down upon the crown of his hat. That every man should be 
allowed quietly to inherit his father's hat, coat, shoe-buckles, pipe, 
and every personal appendage, and that no man should be obliged 
to conform to any improvemants, invention, or any other modern 
innovation; but, on the contrary, should be permitted to build his 
house, follow his trade, manage his farm, rear his pigs and educate 
his children precisely as his ancestors did before him. 

These terms, as may be supposed, appeared very satisfactory to 
the people ... In the meanwhile, the hostile ships made aw- 
ful preparation to commence an assault by water. 

The streets of New Amsterdam now presented a scene of wild 
dismay. In vain did the gallant ^tuyvesant order the citizens to 
arm and assemble in the public square or market-place . . . 
The Brave Peter, thus menaced from without, and tormented 
from within, hooted at by the rabble, chafed and growled 
and raged like a furious bear, tied to a stake and worried by a 
legion of curs. 

Finding, however, that all further attempts to defend the city 



108 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

were vain, he was at length compelled, in spite of his proud heart, 
which swelled in his throat until it had nearly choked him, to con- 
sent to a treaty of surrender. 

Words cannot express the joy of the people, on receiving this 
agreeable intelligence . . , 

On the 37th of August, 1664, a treaty highly favorable to the 
province, and honorable to Peter Stuyvesant, was agreed to by the 
enemy, who had a high opinion of the valor of the Manhattoes. 

EXERCISE ON" NEW NETHERLAND 

Who was Henry Hudson? Under what flag did he first 
sail? Under what flag was he sailing when he discovered the 
Hudson River? Tell what you can of Hudson's attempt to find 
a passage through the Arctic Ocean. What country was he trying 
to reach? Is there an ocean passage north of Eurasia or 
America ? What kept him from finding this northern route to India 
and China? Say what you can about Hudson's voyage up the 
Hudson Eiver. What was he looking for when he discovered this 
river? Who first settled on the Hudson? What did the Dutch 
do for the first ten years in New Netherland? Did they make 
much money? Why? How much did they pay for Manhattan 
Island ? What city is now on this island ? About how many people 
now live on this island? \Yho seized New Netherland from the 
Dutch ? What new name did it then receive ? Who was the Dutch 
governor at this time? What do you remember about the last 
Dutch governor? What does Irving say about him? 



CHAPTER VII 

THE MIDDLE AXD SOUTHERN COLONIES 

102. Maryland and Lord Baltimore. "VVe remember that the 
Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, and that the Puritans 
settled Boston in 1G30. Midway between these two dates, George 
Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, was trying to make a settle- 
ment on the island of Xewfoundland. His reasons for doing so 
were the same as those of the Pilgrims and Puritans in settling 
j^Iassachusetts. He was a Roman Catholic, and his people, like 
tlie Puritans, were compelled by law to attend the English Church. 
This they did not want to do, and Lord Baltimore sought to find 
a place in America where his people could worship as they 
chose. 

But Xewfoundland was too cold for them. We remember 
about the cold ocean current that flows from the Arctic Ocean 
down along the east coast of Xorth America. Xot far from 
Newfoundland it meets a warm current from the south. This 
makes a good fishing-ground, but it also causes dense fogs to 
hang over this region. So we see these people had good reasons 
for not wishing to make homes in such a cold, foggy country. 

After the Xewfoundland settlement failed Lord Baltimore 
made a visit to Virginia, but he soon learned that he was not 
wanted there. 

Finally, in 1632, the king of England gave him a part of 
Virginia. His lands extended from the mouth of the Potomac 
River northward to the fortieth parallel of north latitude, and 
from the Atlantic Ocean westward to a north and south line 

109 



110 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



that marks the source of the Potomac. This accounts for the 
queer shape of the state of Maryland. 

It will be seen that his lands included all of what is now 
Delaware and the southern part of Pennsylvania. In payment 
for this land Lord Baltimore was to send to the king of England 
each year two Indian arrows, and one-fifth of all the gold found. 

This colony was named Maria Terra, or Maryland, in honor 
of Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles T. The first settlement 







ROLLING TOBACCO TO MARKET 



was at St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac Eiver. The 
first governor was Leonard Calvert, a son of George Calvert. 
There were in all six Lord Baltimores. The sixth and last died 
a few years before the Revolutionary War, nearly one hundred and 
forty j^ears after the death of the first Lord Baltimore. 

The Calverts were kindly in spirit and wise and liberal in 
dealing with the colony of Maryland. The mild climate, the 
rich soil, the peaceful Indians, and, more than all, the fact that 
all might worship as they pleased, caused ]\raryland to grow 
rapidly. 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES HI 

But these people, too, had trouble. While they had no Indians 
to fight, they did have war with a man named Claiborne and his 
followers. Claiborne thought he had a better right to the land 
round Chesapeake Bay than Lord Baltimore had. lie tried to 
drive the Calverts out of the country. He was helped by some 
Puritan settlers, and for a time he succeeded, but he was after- 
ward defeated. 

Maryland was one of the thirteen original states. 

EXERCISE ON MARYLAND 

Who was Lord Baltimore? What did he try to do in New- 
foundland? Why did he not succeed? Why was his colony 
named Maryland? Did Lord Baltimore pay anything for the 
grant of Maryland? Why were the arrows required? Why did 
Lord Baltimore want to form a Eoman Catholic settlement in 
America? Where was the first settlement made? When? Who 
was the first governor ? What troubles did Maryland have ? 

103. William Penn was born in 1644. His father. Admiral 
Penn, was a man of wealth and influence. The admiral was a 
favorite of the Duke of York, who afterward became King of 
England under the title of James II. This friendship of James 
for the two Penns was very helpful to William Penn and other 
Quakers. 

Admiral Penn was very proud of his handsome son, and 
hoped to see him a man of influence in the nation. William did 
become famous, but not in the way his father wished or expected. 
By his honesty and justice he gained in the end not only the 
respect and good will of the common people but that of the 
nobility as well. 

WTiile in college, at Oxford, William heard Thomas Loe, a 
follower of George Fox, preach. Through Loe's teachings young 
Penn and some other students refused to wear the college cap and 



112 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



gown, and went so far as to tear them off other students who wished 
to wear them. For this Penn was expelled from college. 

The admiral was very angry at the conduct of his son. He did 
all he could to cause young Penn to forget his Quaker notions, 
but his efforts were useless. The father then sent his son from 

home, but the mother did not forget her 
boy and supplied him with money for 
his needs. After a time the old ad" 
miral allowed his son to return home, 
but he would not permit William to 
speak to him or even to see him. 




WOODEN PLOW 



Penn was thrown into prison four times on account of his 
Quaker principles. At one time he was kept in the Tower of 
London for eight months, but through the friendship of James, 
Duke of York, he was set free. On the death of his father, Will- 
iam came into possession of a large estate. 

104. New Jersey. William Penn and a number of rich 
Quakers of generous nature bought a part of New Jersey in order 
to make new homes for their persecuted friends. Any one who 
wished to settle in New Jersey might do so, no matter what his 
religion was. For this reason we find our Quaker friends there. 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES 113 

Penn's ideas grew. His New Jersey experience led him to plan 
for grander things. 

105. A Charter and Grant of Land. The Puritans had 
found religious peace in New England, and the Roman Catholics 
in Maryland; why not make a home for persecuted Quakers? We 
have seen that when the admiral died, William Penn inherited the 
large estate of his father. Among other things, Penn found that 
his father had a claim against the King of England, Charles II, 
amounting to $80,000. When Penn proposed to take wild land in 
America in payment for this claim the king was glad to accept 
the offer. 

This grant of land lay west of the Delaware River, and was 
supposed to be three degrees of latitude in width; but for some 
reason the deed did not clearly define the boundaries of the grant. 
The real reason, perhaps, was the king's ignorance of American 
geography. If Penn's claim commenced at forty degrees, as the 
deed seemed to indicate, and stretched northward three degrees, it 
would extend into New York. Should he commence farther south, 
his claim would then overlap Lord Baltimore's grant; for, as we 
remember, Maryland reached north to the fortieth parallel. Penn 
chose to overlap Baltimore's claim. 

106. Mason and Dixon Line. Eor more than eighty years 
the boundary line between Maryland and Pennsylvania remained 
in dispute. In 1766 the present boundary between the states was 
agreed upon by the Calverts and the Penns. By this agreement 
Pennsylvania lost a strip of country about fifty miles wide. The 
two surveyors who fixed this new boundary line were. named Mason 
and Dixon, and we now know it by their names. In later years this 
Mason and Dixon line became famous. It separated Maryland, 
a slave state, from Pennsylvania, a free state, and was the boundary 
line between the free states of the North and the slave states of 
the South. 

107. Philadelphia. In 1683 Penn, with a hundred settlers. 



114 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

came over from England. It was a sad voyage, as many died at 
sea of smallpox. Penn chose a place near the junction of the 
Schuylkill and Delaware rivers as the site of his capital city. He 
named it Philadelphia, from two Greek words meaning "Broth- 
erly Love." 

He boiight the land on which to build the city from some 
Swedes who claimed it. He paid them their own price. "The 
lands already bought from the red men were now put up for sale 
at four-pence an acre, with a reserve of one shilling for every 
hundred acres as quit-rent. Amidst these sales and settlements he 
recollected George Fox, for whose use and profit he set aside a 
thousand acres of the best land in the province. 

"Penn was no less careful for the redskins. Laying aside all 
formal manners, he won their hearts by his kind speech. He 
walked with them alone into the forests. He sat with them on 
the ground to watch the young men dance. He joined in their 
feasts, and ate their roasted hominy and acorns. 

"On the banks of the Delaware, in the suburbs of the rising 
city of Philadelphia, lay a spot used from time to time as a meeting- 
place for the native tribes. At this spot stood an aged elm-tree, 
one of those glorious elms which mark the forests of the new 
world. It was a hundred and fifty-five years old ; under its spread- 
ing branches friendly nations had been wont to meet; and here 
the redskins smoked the calumet of peace long before the pale- 
faces landed on those shores. At this place Penn proposed to meet 
the Indian kings in solemn conference, October 14, 1682. 

"All being seated, the old king announced to the governor 
that the natives were prepared to hear and consider his words. 
Penn then arose to address them. ... He and his children, 
he went on to say, never fired the rifle, never trusted to the sword ; 
they met the red men on the broad path of good faith and good 
will. They meant no harm and had no fear. He read the treaty 
of friendship and explained its clauses. It recited that all paths 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES 



115 



<^V^ 



should be free 
and open, that 
the doors of the 
white men should 
be open to the 
red men, and the 
lodges of the red 
men should be 
open to the white 
men . . . that 
if any son 
of Onas were to 
do any harm to 
any redskin, or 
any redskin were 
to do any harm 
to a son of Onas, 
the sufferer 
should not offer 
to right himself, 
but should com- 
plain to the 
chiefs and to 
Onas, that jus- 
tice might be de- 
clared by twelve 
honest men, and 
the wrong buried 
in a pit with no 

bottom; lastly, that both Christians and Indians should tell 
their children of this league and chain of friendship, that it 
might grow stronger and stronger, and be kept bright and clean, 
without rust or spot. While the waters ran down the creeks and 







PENX'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS 



11(J JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

rivers, and while the suu and iiioou aud stars endured. He laid 
the scroll on the ground. The sachems received his proposal for 
themselves and for their children. No oaths, no seals, no mum- 
meries were used; the treaty was ratified on both sides with yea, 
and, unlike treaties which are sworn and sealed, was kept.''* 

lOS. Delaware! Little Delaware had much trouble when 
young, as she was claimed by three men and three nations. 
The Dutch made the first settlement in Delaware, but the settlers 
were all killed by the Indians. 

A little later the Swedes, under Peter Minuit (who was also 
the first governor of New Netherland), made settlements along 
the shores of Delaware Bay. The country was then called New 
Sweden. 

Because of Hudson's discoveries, the Dutch claimed the country. 
So our old acquaintance with the silver leg, Peter Stuyvesant, 
sailed down from New Amsterdam and took possession of New 
Sweden. By this act she became a part of NtV Netherland. 

About ten years after these events, England captured all the 
Dutch possessions in North America. King Charles 11 now gave 
New York to his brother James, the Duke of York. By this grant 
James claimed Delaware also. 

A glance at the map will show that Pennsylvania does not 
touch the Atlantic Ocean. For this reason Penn wished to gain 
control of Delaware Bay. In order to do this he bought Delaware 
of James, the Duke of York. "We remember that this country was 
within the limits of Lord Baltimore's grant. Did the Duke of 
York then have a right to sell it to Penn? The question was 
decided in favor of Penn, and Delaware became a part of Penn- 
sylvania, and remained so until the Eevolutionary W^'ar, when she 
became a state in the Union. It will be seen by these things that 
Lord Baltimore had much trouble in holding his grant, and that 
Penn had more influence with the king than did Lord Baltimore. 

•History of WiUlam Tenn by W. IT. Dixon. 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES 



117 



EXERCISE ON PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE 

What large river flows southward through Pennsylvania into 
Chesapeake Bay? Up what water would you sail in order to 
reach Philadelphia? Why did Penn wish to own Delaware? 

What nation first claime*-! 
Delaware? The second na- 
tion ? The third nation ? 
The first rnan? The second 
rn an? Who finally got posses- 
■•jon of it? \\1)at two claims 
overlapped, and how much? 
Was Delaware a part of Lord 
Baltimore's grant? You will 
see that his claim extended 
farther west than the present 
Maryland now does. Can you 
see why there should be this 
difference? In what state 
v.ould Philadelphia have been 
?iad Baltimore's claim been al- 
lowed? Of the disputed ter- 
ritory, Penn received Delaware and the narrower >>elt. Which 
party got the best in the compromise? Did Penn finally receive 
three degrees of longitude? Suppose he had commenced at forty 
degrees and measure*^! three degres to the north, as some thought 
he ought, where would his north line have lx;en? A\7iat parallel 
of latitude is between Virginia and Xorth Carolina ? "WTiat marks 
the extreme southern line of Marjdand ? 

109. Korth and South Carolina. For many years during the 
early histor,- of North and Soulh Carolina they were under one 
government and were considered as one colony. The northern state 
wag settled about seventeen years earlier than the southern one. 




MIDDJ.L ATI-ANTIC HTATL.S 



118 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



South Carolina's oldest set- 
tlement was made in 1670 on 
the Asliley Eiver. Ten years 
later the colony was moved 
over to the junction of the 
Ashley and Cooper Kivers, 
where the city of Charleston 
now stands. A few years later 
the two colonies became a place 
of refuge for some of the per- 
secuted Christians of Scotland 
and France. 

The Presbyterians from 
Scotland settled in North 
Carolina, and the French 
protestants in South Carolina. 
110. Georgia and James 
Oglethorpe. According to the 
old laws both of England and 
of America, if one could not or 
would not pay his debts, he 
was liable to be thrown into 
prison. There he must stay 
until the debts were paid. But 
if a person is in prison, how 
can he earn anything with 
which to pay his debts? Most 
of these poor people were help- 
less, and unless friends or death came to their relief they might 
stay in prison for many years. What made it still worse, all 
prisons at this time were kept in a dreadful condition. They 
were filthy places and people who were kept in them were apt to 
fall ill ; indeed, many of them died. 




A HUGUENOT GENTLEMAN 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHEKN COLONIES 119 

James Oglethorpe was the founder of Georgia. When he was 
a young man he was a British soldier. He fought against the 
Turks, and also in Queen Anne's War. General Oglethorpe had 
a friend who was put into prison for debt and was treated so 
badly that he died, and so he knew how the people suffered in 
these dreadful places. Through his influence many were set at 
liberty who might have ended their lives within prison walls had it 
not been for his timely aid. This work of kindness, however, did 
not content him. He wished to carry these unhappy people to the 
New World, where they might have a chance to begin a new life. 

In 1732 Oglethorpe obtained from George II a charter by which 
the country lying between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, and 
westward to the Pacific Ocean, was formed into a province named 
Georgia in honor of the king. 

This was to be a refuge for the poor of England. But the op- 
pressed and unfortunate from any country also were welcome here. 
The English government voted £10,000, or about $50,000, to 
further this friendly work. In addition to this, many generous 
persons sent liberal gifts, and by these means the debts of many 
honest men were paid and the debtors set free. 

In the fall of 1733 Oglethorpe sailed from England with about 
one hundred and twenty penniless people who had been selected 
from the most worthy of the released prisoners. The ship first 
anchored off Charleston and the leader of the company paid a visit 
to that city, where he received a warm welcome. 

Early in the year 1733 the new settlers pitched their tents on a 
beautiful bluff overlooking the Savannah Kiver, eighteen miles 
from its mouth. This bluff Oglethorpe chose as the site of his 
capital. Savannah. He was a man of taste as well as good judg- 
ment and the city he laid out, with its broad avenues and many 
small parks, is to-day one of the most beautiful places in the land. 

At first the colonists lived in tents and huts made of boughs 
and branches, but these soon gave place to comfortable houses. 




ATLANTIC COAST AT TIME OF RBVOLUTTOWARY WAR, 



THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHEEN COLONIES 121 

A public garden was planted, where trees were grown for use in 
the town. A large lighthouse was begun on Tybee Island, and 
a battery to protect the town was built on the river bank. 

Oglethorpe was wise in his dealings with the Indians and his 
settlement was not molested by them. It grew fast. Many ships 
came from England with new settlers, and the leaders of the colony 
did their best to keep unworthy people from coming over. 

Many Scotch people settled in Georgia and they made good 
pioneers. They knew how to work and quickly made homes for 
themselves in the wilderness. They were well liked by the Indians, 
so they prospered in their new life. 

In 1734 a company of German Protestants asked permission 
to settle in Georgia. They had fled from the fatherland because 
of religious persecution. They were warmly welcomed by Ogle- 
thorpe and his people. They settled some distance from Savannah, 
and called their new home Ebenezer, a Bible name meaning 
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." 

The people of South Carolina were pleased to have Oglethorpe 
as a neighbor. They thought well of his plans, and they helped 
him in many ways. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Commencing at the north, name in order the thirteen original 
states. How much older is Boston than Charleston? Charleston 
than Philadelphia? Charleston than Savannah? Virginia 
than Maryland? Jamestown than Savannah? What does this 
last difference mean to you? Write a list of the settlements made 
on English territory between 1620 and 1630 inclusive, and place 
the date opposite each name. How many have you? Are these 
places well to the north or well to the south ? In the same manner, 
write a list having dates from 1630 to 1640 inclusive. How many 
have you? 



CHAPTEK VIII 

THE FRENCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST 

111. Champlain and Canada. In the year 1608 a French 
colony under Champlain formed a settlement at Quebec, on the 
St. Lawrence Eiver. This, we remember, was one year after the 
first English settlement at Jamestown. 

The following year Champlain, with a large body of Algonquin 
Indians, passed up the Sorel or Richelieu Eiver into the beautiful 
lake that now bears his name. On the shores of this lake he with 
his red friends fought a battle with the Iroquois, who lived in the 
country now known as New York. During the same year, 1609, 
the Dutch flag for the first time floated over the Hudson River. 

We find, then, the French on the St. Lawrence, the Dutch on 
the Hudson, and the English on the James, all within a period of 
three years. 

Champlain afterward went up the Ottawa River and across 
to Georgian Bay, an arm of Lake Huron. From this place he 
passed southward to Lake Ontario. So far as we know he was 
the first white man to view the waters of Lake Champlain and Lake 
Huron. 

The next important stand of the French was made in 1611, 
near Mount Royal, The city named from this mount or hill is now 
known as Montreal. For sixty years the French settlements were 
confined to the banks of the St. Lawrence. 

112. Our Place as to Time. Hitherto our attention has been 
drawn to the country along the Atlantic Coast. We are now to 
move westward to the Mississippi Valley, the garden spot of North 

122 



THE FEENCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST 



123 



America. The time about which we are to hear is the period 
between the years 1673 and 1689. 

One hundred and seventy-six years have passed since the Cabots 
saw for the first time those huge icebergs along the coast of Lab- 
rador. For one hundred and sixty years the hardy fishermen from 




^m^f^^^ 






MEETING OF MARQUETTE AND JOLIET WITH THE INDIANS 



Europe have been catching the cod on the banks of Newfound- 
land. 

For one hundred and thirty-one years, from the death of De 
Soto, the Mississippi Eiver has been flowing on its course, its 
beauty unseen by white man. Sixty-six years have passed since 
Jamestown was settled. Montreal, tlie hill city on the St. Law- 
rence, is now sixty-two years old. 

Before the year 1673, our present starting-point in time, trad- 
ing-posts and missionary stations were formed at Sault Sainte 



134 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Marie (St. Mary's River), at the Strait of Mackinac, in Green 
Bay, and at other places on the Great Lakes, but no real settle- 
ments were made. 

113. Marquette and Joliet. The Indians had told the French- 
men who had come among them of a great river to the westward, 
and the French government was anxious to find and explore it. So 
the governor of Canada sent Father Marquette, a priest, and Louis 
Joliet, a French fur-trader, to find this great Father of Waters, 
the mighty Mississippi. 

In May, 1673, Marquette and Joliet, with five other French- 
men, started from Green Bay. They paddled their canoes up the 
Fox River until they came to the Wisconsin portage. Here they 
carried their canoes and baggage across the low strip of land, less 
than two miles Avide, to the Wisconsin River. 

114. The Great River. From this portage the little party now 
floated down the Wisconsin until they came to the Mississippi. Each 
night they built their fire, cooked their food and pitched their 
camp in a place secure from surprise and attack from any hostile 
Indians. But it was two weeks before any signs of man were seen. 
One day footprints were discovered in the soft soil of the river's 
bank, leading up into the country. 

115. The Meeting with the Indians. Joliet and Marquette, 
leaving their five men in charge of the canoes and baggage, followed 
the path over the prairies for several miles, until they came to an 
Indian village. The two men were not seen at first by the vil- 
lagers, and in order to draw their attention the Frenchmen stood 
out in full view and shouted. The Indians hastened to greet the 
strangers. These Indians belonged to the Illinois tribe, and after- 
ward became much attached to the French traders and settlers. 
Some of them, though living in a country never before visited by 
white men, wore French-made clothing, thus showing that they 
already had met and dealth with the French. 

Four Indian braves, holding out the peace-pipe, now came 



THE FRENCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST 



125 



toward the two travelers 
with signs of welcome. 
The Frenchmen were 
much jDleased to smoke 
the pipe with their red 
friends of the prairies. 
Marquette, who could 
speak the Indian lan- 
guage, told them that the 
Frenchmen's great chief 
— Count Frontenac, gov- 
ernor of Canada — had 
sent Joliet and himself to 
find the Mississippi 
Eiver, and to ask about 
the Indians along its 
banks. 

The chief, standing 
in his tent door and 
shielding his eyes with 
both hands, replied : 
"Frenchmen, how bright 
the sun shines when you 
come to visit us! All 
our village awaits you, 
and you shall enter our 
wigwams in peace." An- 
other brave said: "Your presence adds flavor to our tobacco, 
makes the river more calm, the sky more blue and the earth more 
beautiful." 

Then the Indians invited the white men to a generous feast. 
It was served with great gravity. The first course was a large 
bowl of cornmeal porridge boiled in grease. The Indians fed their 




FATHER MARQUETTE 



12C^ .lUXIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

visitors with a largo spoou, vorv muoh as a oaroful mother foods 
her little ohild, by placing the spoon to tlie lips. Next came a plato 
of fish. The Indians romovod all the bonos, blow on it to cool it, 
and then witli thoir own tingors placed each mouthful between llu' 
guests' lips. The next course was a large dog, killed and cooked 
for this occasion. But the Frenchmen's appetite failed them at 
this point. The feast ended with a dish of butfalo meat. 

After a night's rest on soft bnlYalo skins, the two travelers 
returned to their canoes and waiting companions. ^Vith true 
courtesy the Indians, to the number of several hundred, wont with 
them to the river and tried to persuade the white men not to go 
farther down the ^Mississippi, as they said the Indians to the 
south wore very unfriendly. But ^larquetto and Joliot wore de- 
termined to continue their journey and the Jinal farewells were 
said. 

116. The Ohio and Missouri Rivers. The little party Uoated 
down tlie Mississippi. After passing the mouth of the Missouri 
and Ohio rivers they mot other Indians, some friendly and others 
hostile. At one place the Frenchmen were in great danger, but 
the savages wore at last persuaded to smoke the peace-pipe. After 
reaching a point not far from the mouth of the Arkansas Eiver, 
Marquette and Joliot concluded that it would be unsafe to go 
farther down the river. But they were now sure that it llowod 
into the Gulf of Mexico. 

117. The Return. On thoir return they passed up the Illinois 
Eiver instead of the Wisconsin. They Avore now among the Illi- 
nois Indians, who from the first had boon very kind to them. 

A yomig Indian chief was their guide. They passed up the 
Illinois and Des Plaines rivers and crossed the Chicago portage to 
Lake ^Michigan. They made thoir way along the shore of this lake 
to Green Bay, whore they arrived after an absonee of four months. 

lis. Marquette a Missionary to the Illinois. Father Mar- 
quette remained at Green Bay nearly a year to regain his health. 



THE FEENCH IN THE NOBTH AND WEST 127 

which had suffered from the long journey. Then he returaed to 
the Illinois valley. His great desire wa« to preach to the Illinois 
Indians. They receivwl hirn and his teachings gladly and wanted 
him to remain with them ; but this was not to be, as his life was 
fast ebbing away. 

In his effort to return to ^Mackinac Strait, he died on the east 
shore of Lake Michigan, where he was buried by his two com- 
panions. Some friendly Ottawa Indians afterward placed his body 
in a box of birch-bark and carried it to Mackinac, where it was 
received with great honor, and buried beneath the floor of the 
Mission chapel. 

During the winter of 1674-75, while on his way to the Illinois 
Indians, Marquette camped on the banks of the Chicago Kiver. 
He was obliged to winter in this dreary place because he was too 
sick to continue his journey. So Chicago may claim Father Mar- 
quette as her earliest white resident. 

119. Marquette's Account of His Explorations. The follow- 
ing lines are tuKC-n from Marquette's account of liic trip down the 
Mississippi and his return. It will be noticed that lie calls LAke 
Michigan the Illinois Lake. 

"After a month's navigation do\ni the Mississippi, from the 
forty-second to below the thirty- fourth degree, and after having 
published the gospel as well as I could to the nations I had met, 
we left the village of Arkansas on the 17th of July, 1673, to retrace 
our steps. We accordingly ascended the Mississippi, which gave us 
great trouble to stem its currents. We left it, indeed, about the 
thirty-eighth degree, to enter another river,* which greatly short- 
ened our way and brought us with little trouble to the lake of the 
Illinois. We had seen nothing like this river for the fertility of the 
land, its prairies, woods, wild cattle, stag, deer, wildcats, bustards, 
swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver, its many little lakes and 
rivers. Tliat on which we sailed is broad, deep, and gentle for sixty- 

•IlUnolB River. 



128 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

five leagues. During the spring and summer the only portagef is 
half a league. We found an Illinois town composed of seventy-four 
cabins. They received us well, and compelled me to promise to 
return and instruct them. One of the chiefs of this tribe, with his 
young men, escorted us to the Illinois Lake, whence at last we 
returned at the close of September to the Bay of the Fetid, whence 
we had set out in the beginning of June." 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Locate St. Joseph's Eiver. "WTiat fort is at its mouth ? What 
is meant by a portage? What use did the Indians and fur- 
traders make of these portages? What portage is near the St. 
Joseph's Eiver? The Kankakee Eiver flows into what river? Lo- 
cate Green Bay; Fox Eiver; Wisconsin Eiver. Locate the portage 
between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. The Chicago portage was 
between what two small streams? What connects Lake Huron 
and Lake Michigan? So far as the map shows it, trace the route 
of Joliet and Marquette, from Mackinac and return. Locate Sault 
Ste. Marie; Mackinac Strait; Green Bay; Georgian Bay. Why 
is it said that Chicago may claim Father Marquette as her first 
white settler? 

120. La Salle and the Mississippi Valley. Samuel de Cham- 
plain and Eobert de La Salle were the two most famous explorers 
of Canada. We remember that Champlain added the St. Law- 
rence basiu to the French dominions, and opened the way to the 
Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley. La Salle completed the 
work of discovery begun by Joliet, and added the Mississippi Valley 
to New France, as the French possessions in America were now 
called. 

During the same year that Joliet discovered the Mississippi 
Eiver (1673) Governor Frontenac and La Salle built a fort and 

tChicago. 



THE FRENCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST 



125 







LA SALLE 

trading-post near the outlet of Lake Ontario, 
where the city of Kingston now stands. 

In 1679 the Griffin, the first real ship to sail 
on Lake Erie, was built on the Niagara Eiver, 
above the great cataract. La Salle took the 
Griffin to Green Bay, where she was loaded with 
furs and started back to Niagara, but nothing 
was afterward heard of her, and it is thought 
she was shipwrecked. 

12 L La Salle and Tonty in Illinois. 
La Salle kept fourteen men with him. The 



130 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

party made its way in canoes along the west and south shove of 
Lake Michigan to the mouth of the St. Joseph Kiver. Here 
La Salle expected to meet his friend. Henri di Tonty, with another 
company of men. But Tonty had not yet arrived. La Salle's 
men wished to go on into the Illinois country before the winter 
set in. but he would not thus desert his faithful friend Tonty. 
While waiting for him. La Salle built a fort at the mouth of the 
St. Joseph Eiver, naming it Fort Miami. When La Salle had 
waited nearly throe weeks Tonty appeared with a company of 
thirty-three men. 

From this point the two bands went up the St. Joseph 
Eiver to the Kankakee portage, near what is now the city of 
South Bend. They found the portage after some delay and 
carried their canoes and baggage across the head waters of the 
Kankakee. They now launched their boats and tloated down 
the Kankakee and Illinois rivers to the outlet of Lake 
Peoria, which is merely a spreading out of the Illinois 
River. Here La Salle built a fort, naming it Crevecoeur (Crave' cur) . 
which means Breaking Heart. 

At this place the Frenchmen met a large body of Illinois In- 
dians. While waiting for supplies. La Salle set his men to work at 
building a large boat in which to sail down the Mississippi to its 
mouth. He had heard nothing from the Gritiin and could not 
understand why his expected supplies did not come. 

122. La Salle's Return to Montreal. La Salle decided to re- 
turn to Montreal to see what had happened. He left Tonty in 
command of the fort, and with four Frenchmen and one Indian 
guide started on foot for I\Iontreal, a distance of a thousand miles. 
This long journey was begun in March, 1680, tlie same year that 
Charleston, South Carolina, was settled. 

When he reached Niagara he learned that a ship had come 
from France with a large and valuable cargo for his use, but it had 
been wrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and nothing had been 



THE FRENCH IN THE NOETH AND WEST 1;j1 

saved. In spite of this misfortune, La Salle collected supplies and 
men at Montreal and started again for the Illinois country. 

But before ho had gone very far he heard still worse news. 
His men at Fort Crevecojur had rebelled and left the fort. They 
bad taken with them all tbe furs and ammunition they could carry, 
and had scattered in small parties to hunt for themselves and to 
trade with the Indians. Only four had remained faithful to Tonty. 

12.'i. Father Hennepin, a Jesuit missionary, was a member of 
tbe company left with Tonty at Fort Cr6vecccur. About the 
time tbat La Salle started east Father Hennepin, with 
two other Frenchmen, started on an exploring expedition up the 
Mississippi Kiver. 

They loaded their canoes with knives, hatchets, blankets, beads, 
tobacco and tbe like. Tbese were to be used as presents to any 
Indians they might meet. They also took guns and ammunition 
for their own use. With their well-filled canoes the three French- 
men floated down the Illinois to its mouth. Then they turned 
nortliward and paddled slowly up the Mississippi. Game, such as 
buffalo, deer, wild turkey and fish, was plentiful. 

We remember that Marquette and Joliet had, seven years be- 
fore, been over the same route as far north as the mouth of the 
Wisconsin River. Xorth of this point no white man had ever 
been. The Minnesota country was an unsafe place for three 
white men, as this was the hunting-ground of the Sioux Indians, 
who were more savage than the Illinois tribes. 

Soon after reaching the Minnesota region Hennepin and his 
companions were captured by a war-party of Sioux. For a time 
they were in danger of being killed, but fortunately their lives 
were spared. They were compelled to accompany their red masters 
up the Mississippi. They passed the Falls of St. Anthony, near 
which are now the twin cities of ]\Iinneapolis and St. Paul. They 
spent the summer among the Minnesota lakes, not as pleasure- 
seekers but as half-starved slaves of half-starved masters. 



13-,> .ll'MOK HISTORY OF THH UNITED STATES 

During the fall llio.v toll in with Puluth nuil four othor uoll- 
armed Freuohnioii avUo had found their way westward from (he 
Great Lake region. 

After a great Indian least, the eight Frenehnien passed down 
the Mississippi, np the Wisconsin, across the portfige and ilown the 
Fox Kiver to (ireen Bay. 

Before the winter of U!SO set in. 'Tonty and Hennepin were 
safe among friends, hut 1-a Salle did not know where they were. 
Indeed he did not even know whether or not they were alive. 

V24. Tonty's Return. Tonty and a few faithful followers 
had, after the desertion of the other men. U^ft Creveeunir and 
sought shelter among the Illinois Indians. But they soon found 
that these Indians were unahle to protect them from the Irocpiois 
of New York, who were fierce fighters. These savage warriors had 
crossed the present states of Ohio and Indiana for the ]>urposo of 
attacking the Illinois Indians. 

Tonty exposed himself to great danger in trying to keep the 
red warriors fron^ lighting one another; hut he was not ahlc to 
do so. When the Illinois red men tied down the river, he and his 
companions took the opposite course and sailed up to the Chicago 
portage. From there they skirted the west shore of Lake l\liehigan 
in canoes and reached Green Bay. where they were safe among 
friendly Indians. 

125. La Salle again in Illinois. Late in the fall La Snlle 
reached the Illinois country, expecting to sec Tonty, Hennepin 
and the others he had left at the fort. But he found nothing but 
the wreck of war. Tonty, Father Hennepin and the Indians had 
all vanished. He sailed down the Illinois to its mouth, hoping 
to trace the friendly Indians or those whom he had left in command. 
But again he was disappointed ; no friends were there. As wc have 
seen, Father Hennepin and Tonty were successful in finding their 
way hack to Green Bay. 

La Salle now returned to Fort Miami, at the mouth of the 



THE FRENCH IN THK NOltTil AND WKHT I33 

St. JoHopli Iiivor. Wc.ra Ik; Hpont the wintf;r in ^^uinin^ tlio frionr]- 
ship of the wcHtorn IndianH, and in making troaticH with thorn 
againHt tho dreaded Iroquois. In the spring of 1681 he TciiirnoA 
to Canada. On his way home he and his friend Tonty had a 
joyful meeting at Maekinae Strait. From this plaw the two 
traveled togetJier over the lakes to Niagara. 

126. A Successful Expedition. Jn the fall of the same year 
La Salle with a company of white and Indian followers started on 
another expedition, 

\n the language of the historian Parkrnan, "When he reaelied 
Fort Miami the season was far advaneed. On the hare limhs of the 
forest hung a few withered remnants of its gay autumnal livery; 
and the smoke crept upward through the sullen Xovemher air 
from the squalid wigwams of La Salle's Indian allies. . . . 
La Salle ehose eighteen of thern, whom he added to the twenty- 
three Frenchmen wlio remained with him. , . . The Indians 
insisted on taking their squaws with them; and these were tan in 
numher, heside three children; and thus the expedition included 
fifty-four persons." Tonty was one of the company. 

Late in Deeemher the little fleet of canoes cro3s<;d tfie southern 
end of i^ake Michigan, from Fort Miami to the mouth of the 
Chicago River. Here the hoats and haggage were placed on sleds 
and dragged across the portage to the iJes Plaines lliver. But as 
the rivers were all frozen over, the voyagers were compelled to drag 
their sleds over the ice until they came to Peoria Lake, where open 
water was found. La Salle did not attempt to make a large hoat, 
as before, but trusted to his canoes. 

From Peoria he and his company passed down the Illinois liiver. 
They reached its mouth in February. Here they had to stay for 
a week because the Mississippi was full of ice. Then they started 
down the great river. 

For more than a hundred leagues they traveled without seeing 
a human being. One day in March they were startled to hear 



THE FRENCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST 13 5 

drums and war cries, and on the river bank they saw a large Indian 
village. When the red men found that the Frenchmen meant no 
harm they were very friendly, but farther down the river the party 
was attacked by some savages, who shot their arrows at the white 
men and then fled. 

Early in April it was found that the water of the river was 
salt to the taste. This meant to La Salle that his expedition was 
a success, and it was with a thankful heart that a few days later 
he saw before him the vast expanse of the Gulf of Mexico. Here, 
at the mouth of the Mississippi, in 1683, he took formal possession 
of all of the Mississippi Valley in the name of the King of France. 

This expedition is of great historic interest, as it gave France 
a claim to all this vast middle valley. Had not the result of a war 
compelled her to give it up, the Mississippi Valley would have 
been settled by the French. France held this country eighty 
years, from 1682 to 1763, or until the close of the French and 
Indian War. "^ 

On his return from the South La Salle built a fort on a cliff 
overlooking the Illinois Eiver, near the present city of Ottawa. 
This was known as Fort St. Louis, and was built to protect French- 
men and fur-traders. It was also intended as a gathering-place for 
all the tribes of the Illinois valley. These Indians now looked to 
this French fort for protection from the Iroquois. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Trace De Soto's route. In what year was the first discovery of 
the Mississippi? The second discovery? By whom was the dis- 
covery made in each case? In what year did La Salle reach its 
mouth ? Trace Champlain's route. Trace La Salle's first route ; 
his third route. Trace the route of the Griffin. Where was it 
built? How many portages do you find near Lake Michigan? 
Locate each. Where was Fort Frontenac? Who built it? Why 
was it built? 



CHAPTEE IX 

THE FRANKLIN PERIOD 

127. Franklin's Boyhood. The life of Benjamin Franklin 
lacks but fourteen years of spanning the eighteenth century. He 
was born in 1706 and died in 1790. When Oglethorpe was plant- 
ing the last of the thirteen English colonies in America Franklin 
was twenty-seven years of age, yet he lived to help frame our 
present Constitution, and to see George Washington made Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

The eighty-four years covered by Franklin's life are the most 
important in our nation's history. Three great events occurred 
during this time: First, the French were driven from North 
America, and all the work of Champlain, Joliet, Marquette and 
La Salle was lost to France; secondly, the United States won its 
independence from England ; and, thirdly, our present Constitution 
was adopted and our government organized under it. 

Benjamin Franklin Avas one of seventeen children, and the 
youngest son. His father was a candle and soap maker in Bos- 
ton. Benjamin attended school but two years. At the age of ten 
he was obliged to quit school to help his father at candle-making, 
a business which was not at all to his liking. He longed to be a 
sailor. His father, fearing he might run away to sea, tried to 
find out what trade or work his son would like. 

James, an elder son, was a printer. He was the publisher of 
the second oldest paper in America. Benjamin was now a boy 
of twelve and very fond of reading. He wished very much to get 
an education. So when it was suggested to him that he learn the 

136 



THE FEANKLIN PERIOD 



137 




FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA 



printer's trade under liis brother, lie was much pleased, as it would 
give him a chance to read and to learn many things. 

Benjamin liked his new work, but his brother treated him un- 
kindly and he was not happy. He afterward wrote a book about 
his life, and in this he says: "At length, a fresh difference aris- 



138 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

ing between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my 
freedom. It was not fair for me to take this advantage . . . but 
the unfairness of it weighed little with me when under the 
impressions of resentment for the blows his passions too often 
urged him to bestow upon me." 

The final result of this quarrel was Benjamin's flight, first to 
New York city, and then to Philadelphia. Here he soon found 
work at his chosen trade. He was a valuable boy to have about 
a printing-office, as he had not only skilful fingers and studious 
habits but a clear, practical mind. 

So clever was he that he was able to improve the tools and 
machinery with which he worked. Others besides his master 
learned to know him as a bright and intelligent young man. He 
attracted the notice of the governor of Pennsylvania, who per- 
suaded him to go to England to purchase a printer's outfit with 
which to set up business for himself in Philadelphia. 

128. Franklin in London. The governor promised to fur- 
nish him the necessary money and to give him letters of intro- 
duction to noted men in London. Franklin was at this time but 
a boy — only eighteen — and just vain enough to be flattered by the 
notice of a man in such a position. So he went to England, but he 
found neither money nor letters when he reached London. 
The governor was one of those people who are always ready 
to promise, but never ready to do. Thus the boy was left to shift 
for himself in the great city. But fortunately he was industrious 
and also a good workman. He again found work as a printer, and 
remained in London a year and a half. 

In his autobiography Franklin gives a very interesting account 
of his stay in London. He tells the following story : 

THE BEER STORY 

I drank only water; the other workmen, near fifty in number, 
were great drinkers of beer. On one occasion I carried up and down 



THE FRANKLIN PEEIOU 



139 



stairs a large form of type in each hand, when others carried Ijut 
one in both hands. They wondered to see from this and several in- 
stances, that the Water-A7nerican, as they called me, was stronger 
than themselves, who drank strong beer ! We had an ale-house boy, 
who attended always in the house to supply the workmen. My com- 
panion at the press drank every day, a pint before breakfast, a pint 
at breakfast with his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast 
and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six 
o'clock and another pint when he had done his day's work. I 
thought it a detestable custom; but it was necessary, he supposed, 
to drink strong beer that he might be strong to labor. I endeavored 
to convince him that the bodily strength afforded by beer could only 
be in proportion to the grain or flour of the barley dissolved in 



the water of which 
it was made; that 
there was more 
flour in a penny 
worth of bread ; 
and therefore if he 
could eat that with 
a pint of water it 
would give him 
more strength than 



a quart of beer. He 
drank on, however, 
and had four or five 
shillings to pay out 
of his wages every 
Saturday night for 
that vile liquor, an 
expense I was free 
from. And thus 
these poor devils 
keep themselves 
always under. 




PRINTING-rUESS USED BY FRANKLIN 



14 .UTNTOTv TUSTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES 

From my oxamplo a great many of thorn loft thoir muddling 
broakfast of boor, broail and ohooso, linding thoy oould with us bo 
su}>}iliod from a noigliboring houso with a hirgo porringor of hot- 
wator gruol. sprinklod with poppor. orumblod with broacK and a bit 
of butter in it, for the priee of a pint of beer, viz., three half penee. 
This was a more comfortable as well as a cheaper breakfast, and 
kept their heads clearer. Those who continued sotting with their 
beer all day were often, by not paying, out of credit at the ale-house, 
and used to make interest with me to get beer. 

Franklin was always truthful, very temperate in his habits, 
and perfectly honest, both in act and in thought. But we are 
sorry to state that while in England and for some time after his 
return to Thiladelphia he was far from being a model young num. 
We learn this from his own story of himself. 

For a time he was in danger of turning out badly, but his 
good sense and strong will saved him, and he became one of the 
great and good men of America. 

He continued to rise after his return to Philadelphia, and 
was soon at the head of a printing-otUce ; shortly after we tind 
him publishing a newspaper known as the Pi'iinsi/lraiiia Gazcitc. 

129. His Writings. In Ko"J he began publishing the famous 
Poor liichard Almanac under the assumed name of Kiehard Saun- 
ders, but it was generally known that Franklin was "roor IJichard." 

These almanacs, like others, were issued at the beginning of each 
year, and were published nntil 1757, a period of twenty-tive years. 
They were sold in large numbers and were read in all parts of 
America and in England. The following are some of the nuixims 
found in Poor Eichard's Almanac : 

rooR Richard's maxims 

1. IIo that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas. 

i!. Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him. 

3. He that oanuot obey cannot eommand. 

4. Laws, like eobwebs, catoh small tlies; great ones break through 
before your eyes. 



THE FBANKLIN PERIOD 141 

5. He that waits upon fortune in never sure of his diuacT. 

6. Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee. 

7. Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead. 

8. A lie stands on one leg, truth on two. 

9. Diligence is the mother of good luck. 

10. Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it, 

11. Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of 
another. 

12. If wind blows on you through a hole, make your will and take care 
of your soul. 

13. A rotten apple spoils his companions. 

14. He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefooted. 

15. Love, a cough and a smoke can't well be hifL 

16. He that pursues two foxes at once does not cat^;h one and lets 
tother go. 

17. There are three faithful friends — an old wife, an old dog and 
ready money. 

18. He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals. 

19. Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden be- 
cause it is hurtful. 

20. The poor have little; beggars none; the rich too much; enough, not 
one. 

21. A quarrelsome man has no good neighbors. 

22. Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster. 
2.3. He that spills the rum loses that only ; he that drinks it often loses 

both that and himself. 

24. For age and want save while you may; no morning sun lasts all 
the day. 

25. Plough deep while sluggards sleep; and yon shall have com to sell 
and to eat. 

26. Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. 

130. His Marriage. Franklin observed Poor Richard's max- 
ims, and soon became a prosperous printer and publisher. 

In 1730, when twenty-four years of age, he married a Miss 
Bead. Seven years before, the morning he entered Philadelphia 
as a runaway boy from Boston, this young lady had seen him on 
the street and had laughed at him. Perhaps she had good reason 



142 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



for being amused. Ho iimst have been an odd-looking boy as he 
stared about the streets of the old Quaker town. His pockets were 
stuffed full of extra clothing. He carried a roll of bread under 
each arm and was eating a third. She afterward had the pleasure 
of seeing him eat from a china bowl, with a silver spoon, a gift 
from herself. 

Franklin thus writes of his wife and their early married life : 
"We have an English proverb that says, 'He that would thrive must 

ask his wife.' It was lucky for 
me that I had one as mucli 
disposed to industry and fru- 
gality as myself. She assisted 
me cheerfully in my business, 
folding and stitching pam- 
phlets, tending shop, pur- 
chasing old linen rags for the 
paper maker, and so forth. 
We kept no idle servants, 
our table was plain and sim- 
ple, our furniture of the 
simplest. For instance, my 
breakfast for a long time was 
bread and milk (no tea), and 
I eat it out of a twopenny 
earthen porringer with a pewter spoon. But mark how luxuries 
will enter families and make a progress in spite of principle. 
Being called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a china bowl 
with a spoon of silver ! They had been bought for me without my 
knowledge by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of 
twenty-two shillings, for which she had no other excuse or apology 
to make but that she thought her husband deserved a silver spoon 
and china bowl as well as any of his neighbors." 

131. Public Works. Franklin and a few of his friends organ- 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



THE FRANKLIN PERIOD 



148 



ized a public subscription library in Philadelphia. From this 
small beginning grew the free public library plan now so common 
in the United States. 

Another plan of this bright young man was a seminary for 
his adopted city. From this little school grew the University of 
Pennsylvania. 

132. Inventor and Philosopher. Franklin saw that heating 
a house by means of the old-time fireplace was very wasteful, and 
he set about to plan something to save fuel. As a result he made 
an iron fireplace, or a sort of open stove. He was not the inventor 
of the modern heater, but he did invent a soft-coal stove. He 
also improved the manner of building chimneys, so ihat they would 
draw better, and not fill the room with smoke at every gust of 
wind. 

The lightning-rod also was invented by Franklin. This came 
as a result of his study of electricity. 

One hundred and fifty years ago little was known of electricity 
or its laws. The lightning's flash had been seen and feared since 
the world began, but it was not known that lightning was the 
same as that strange, newly-found force known as electricity. 
Franklin believed that the lightning of the clouds was of the same 
nature as the electric spark made by the electric 
machine, and he set about to prove it. 

133. An Electric Machine. Perhaps some 
of you may never have seen an electric machine. 
If so, let us make one. 

Rub a common rubber comb (or piece of 
sealing wax) with a piece of dry woolen cloth; 
hold the comb (or sealing-wax) near the ear; 
also near some bits of paper or a pith-ball. 
What is seen or heard is caused by the presence 
of electricity. The same results may be ob-' 
tained by rubbing a class rod with silk. The a leyden jar 




144 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



comb or rod is really a tiny electric machine. A large electric 
machine ' produces a vastly greater and more powerful spark. 

By means of the Leyden jar the electric discharges from the 
machine may be bottled or collected, and when the jar is dis- 
charged it sends forth an electric force many times larger than 



-^ — > 




GLASS ROD ELECTRICITY 



does the machine itself. The electric spark from the Leyden jar is 
really a tiny thunder-bolt. 

The Leyden jar is merely a jar of pure glass, partly coated in- 
side and out with metal foil of some sort. The two coatings must 
not come in contact. 

134. Franklin and His Kite. In order to prove his idea that 
electricity and lightning are of the same nature Franklin planned 
to bring some of the lightning of the clouds down into his Ley- 
den jar. 

He made a kite by stretching silk cloth on a frame. At the 
corners of the kite he fastened metal points. The main kite string 
was made of tow, the part next to the hand being silk. The damp 



THE FRANKLIN PERIOD 



145 






tow string, be- 
ing a good con- 
ductor, would 
lead the electric 
fluid down to the 
jar, while the 
silk string, being 
a non-conductor, 
would keep it 
from passing 
through his body 
into the earth. 

In d u e time 
came the thun- 
der - storm for 
which Franklin 
was waiting. He 
sent up his kite, 
about which all 
the learned 
world has heard. 
Soon he saw the 
little fibers of 
tow stand out 
from the string, 
and he knew 
that the string 
was charged 
with electricity. 
Hetoucheda 

key which he had hung on the string and felt a shock. He knew 

that he was correct in his ideas. He now charged his Leyden jar. 

His fame was fixed. He knew what no other man in all the 

world knew — that electricity and lightning are the same. He 




FRANKLIN AND HIS KITE 



146 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

made many other experiments in electrieitj, and added much val- 
uable knowledge to the subject. He did so much for science that 
a great university in Scotland honored him by making him Doctor 
of Laws. After that he was known as Dr. Franklin. 

135. Franklin the Statesman. We have been learning about 
Franklin the boy-printer and Franklin the philosopher, training 
lightning with his kite. We now come to Franklin the states- 
man. To tell all that he did for the American people would make 
a large book, so we can name only a few of the most important 
things. The latter half of his long and active life was devoted 
largely to the work of a statesman. 

When the colonies began to have trouble with the mother- 
country about taxes, he was sent to England as an agent for several 
of the colonies. When he found that there was no hope of making 
peace, he returned to America. He had not been home long be- 
fore he was sent to Congress by the people of Pennsylvania. 

He was one of the committee of five men who framed the 
Declaration of Independence. He was also one of its signers on 
July 4, 1776. While signing the Declaration of Independence, 
Mr. Harrison, a member of Congress, said they must all hang 
together. "Yes," said Franklin, "we must indeed all hang to- 
gether or we shall all hang separately." 

In September, 1776, Franklin was sent as an agent of the 
United States to France. For eight eventful years he remained in 
Paris, doing all he could to aid the United States in fitting out 
ships of war to prey on British commerce. America was at this 
time extremely poor, and it was Franklin's work to raise money 
in Europe to help pay the expenses of the American Eevolution, 

Probably no one else could have done as much in making 
friends for us in France as Dr. Franklin was able to do. He 
admired the French people and enjoyed being among them, and it 
has been said that no other American has ever been so well liked 
by them. 



THE FRANKLIN PEEIOD 147 

When Franklin was about to return to America, Louis XVI 
gave him a portrait of himself, set in diamonds. The king also 
sent a traveling litter, swung between two mules, to carry him 
from Paris to the port from which he was to sail. On the way to 
the seacoast Dr. Franklin was greeted everywhere he stopped by 
friends. 

Before leaving France Dr. Franklin helped in making the 
treaty that closed the Revolutionary War. As soon as he arrived 
in this country he was asked by the people of Pennsylvania to be 
what would now be called their governor. 

The last days of Franklin's life were spent in Philadelphia. 
Here, in a big house, with his grandchildren about him, he lived 
very happily. The house had a little garden, and under a mulberry 
tree in this garden the old doctor used to sit on summer afternoons, 
talking to the many friends who came to see him. Though he was 
ill and feeble in body, his mind was strong and clear, and he spent 
much time in reading and writing. 

And now, old man though he was, he was once more called upon 
to help his country. He was made a member of the convention 
that formed the constitution under which we now live, and the part 
he took in the work was important. It was most fitting that the 
venerable Dr. Franklin, now eighty-one years old, should have a 
part in making our Constitution. Thirty-three years before, at the 
Albany convention, he had proposed a plan of union for all the 
British colonies in America; but it was rejected both by England 
and the colonies, for directly opposite reasons. Here in his old age 
he had the honor and pleasure of helping to complete in a more 
perfect form what he had there proposed. This, his last public 
work, was the crowning glory of his life. 

THE REPUBLIC 
Thotj, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 
Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
Humanity, with all its fears, 
With all the hopes of future years, 



148 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 
We know what nmstcr laid thy keel. 
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, 
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, 
What anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
In what a forge, and what a heat, 
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! 

Fear not each sudden sound and shock; 

'Tis of the wave, aud not the rock; 

'Tis but the flapping of the sail, 

And not a rent made by the gale! 

In spite of rock and tempest's roar, 

In spite of false lights on the shore, 

S;iil on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee ; 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 

Are all with thoe — are all with theo! 

— U. W. L(yiig fellow. 

EXERCISE ON FRANKLIN 

Tell the story of Franklin's boyhood life in Boston. Tell the 
story of his first experience in Philadelphia. Give an account of 
his life in London, and the beer story. Tell something of his home 
life after marriage. Tell the story of the china bowl. Eeeite 
some of Franklin's maxims. Where were these maxims printed 
first? Tell the story of the kite experiment. What did this ex- 
periment prove? Try the experiment with the rubber comb and 
woolen cloth ; also, with the glass and the silk. What were the re- 
sults? Have you ever seen a large electric machine? Have you 
ever seen a Leyden jar? Why do we call Franklin Doctor? Say 
what you can of Franklin and the Declaration of Independence. 
^^'hat did he do in Paris? Tell the story of Franklin and the 
Constitution of the United States. 



CHAPTER X 

THE FEENCH AND INDIAN WAE 

136. Claims in America. We have already learned about the 
discoveries, explorations and settlements of the St. Lawrence basin, 
the Great Lake region and the Mississippi Valley. We also know 
that the English had settled along the Atlantic Coast. The Eng- 
lish, through the discoveries of the Cabots, also laid claim to the 
Great Lake region and the Mississippi Valley. It will be seen that 
the French and English claims overlapped. 

The English continued to push farther and farther west until 
they reached the Alleghany Mountains. Should they climb these 
mountains and settle in the Ohio Valley, as some wished to do, 
they would meet the French. It is clear that a struggle between 
the French and the English for the possession of the Mississippi 
Valley must soon come. 

137. Message Carried by George "Washington. In the year 
1754 George Washington, then a young man twenty-two years of 
age, carried the message that opened the conflict. Both sides were 
ready to fight. It needed but a spark to kindle the fire. The mes- 
sage borne by Washington was the spark that started a blaze of 
war which spread to all parts of the world. 

The French were building a chain of forts extending south from 
Lake Erie, in order to shut out the English from the Ohio Valley. 
The message from the Governor of Virginia was a protest to the 
French commander near Lake Erie against their building these 
forts. According to the British claim, the forts were on Virginia 
soil. The war which was thus opened in western Pennsylvania is 

149 



150 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED' STATES 

called in America the French and Indian War, but to other nations 
it is known as the Seven Years' War. 

The fighting in America continued from 1T54 to 1759, but the 
war in other parts of the world was carried on until 1763, when 
the treaty which closed it was signed in Paris. 

138. The War in America. It was at Fort Duquesne that 
the English first tried to get possession of the Ohio Kiver. This 
fort had been built by the French at the junction of the Alleghany 
and Monongahela rivers, which unite to form the Ohio. 

Here General Braddock, with his English and American sol- 
diers, was badly defeated in a fight with the French and Indians. 
Braddock himself was killed. Washington also took part in this 
fight. Franklin, too, had something to do with the unfortunate 
expedition. It was through Franklin that Braddock was supplied 
with wagons to carry his army from Virginia to the Ohio Valley. 

Two years after Braddock's defeat the French gave up Fort 
Duquesne to the English without fighting. It was then renamed 
Fort Pitt, in honor of the great William Pitt of England. The 
city of Pittsburgh now occupies the site of this famous fort. 

Other expeditions against the French were planned, but none 
of them were entirely successful. In 1756 General Montcalm was 
sent from France to command the French forces in America, and 
for two years the English were unable to gain any real victories. 

But in 1758 the tide turned. The strong French fortress of 
Louisburg, on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia, was taken 
by the British and colonial forces, and Fort Frontenac on Lake 
Ontario was destroyed. Fort Duquesne was no longer in the 
possession of the French and they were fast losing their hold in 
the Ohio Valley. Fort Ticonderoga also was attacked, but here 
the English were driven back. The next year, however, they suc- 
ceeded in taking this fort as well as that at Crown Point. 

139. "Wolfe and ftuebec. In 1759 General Wolfe was placed 
in command of the English army on the St. Lawrence River. The 



THE FEENCH AND INDIAN WAE 



151 




MAP A— BEFORE THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAE 




MAP B— AFTER THE FEENCH AND INDIAN WAE 



152 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

task of this young general was to capture Quebec, the strongest 
point in possession of the French. 

The English had tried before to fight their way to this strong- 
hold, but they had not succeeded. Quebec is on the top of a high 
hill, and it was hard for an enemy to approach very near. But 
the English general found a way, and led his forces to a point 
close to the city before the French knew what he was about. In a 
terrible battle the French forces were defeated, and both the 
English and the French general were killed. 

EXERCISE ON" THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

In 1754 who claimed the St. Lawrence basin? "VMiy? Who 
claimed the Mississippi Valley ? Why ? Who claimed all of North 
America ? Why ? Who first settled the St. Lawrence basin ? Who 
the Mississippi Valley? Who settled along the Atlantic Coast? 
What brought on the French and Indian War ? Tell about George 
Washington's message. What had Franklin to do with this war? 
Say a few words about Braddock's defeat. Who was General 
Wolfe? What was his task? Did he succeed? 

EXERCISE ON MAPS 

On Map A, page 151, the black shading shows the French posses- 
sions. Do you see any black shading on Map B? Why? Who 
held Florida before the war? Who after the war? Who held the 
western half of the Mississippi Valley before the war? Who after 
the war? Who held the eastern half of the Mississippi Valley 
before the war? Who after the war? Who occupied the St. Law- 
rence basin in 1754? Who in 1763? Bound the English posses- 
sions in 1763. In what direction does the St. Lawrence Eiver 
flow? The Ohio? 



CHAPTER XI 

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

140. The Boy. Into Virginia, with its bold, rugged scenery, 
its mixed people, its quiet, simple life, came a little blue-eyed boy. 
It is said of him: "He always spoke the truth." He was bom 
February 22, 1732. 

The family to which he belonged was one of wealth and rank. 
He was bom at a time when there was peace and quiet in the 
colony. This boy, George Washington, was four years older than 
the first newspaper of Virginia. 

Of George's boyhood we know but little. But he was a real 
boy, with his likes and dislikes, his faults and his good qualities. 
One good thing in this boy was that he knew his faults, and tried 
to correct them. When only twelve years of age he rewrote some 
"Rules of Conduct," to make them suited to his own needs. And 
he followed these rules all his life. He had a hot, quick temper, 
and he knew that this might be in the way of his becoming a useful 
and successful man. He knew that if he wished to lead others he 
must first conquer and control himself. 

Thus we see that even as a boy George Washington had good 
sense. But he was not a prig. He was honest and sincere, and 
never pretended to be what he was not, but was also boyish and 
hearty in his sports and fond of out-door fun. He could ride a 
horse, vault a pole and chase a fox as well as any other boy. He 
took much pride in his horses and hunting-dogs. 

When he was only a boy he caught the military spirit and fire 

153 



154 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

of war from his elder half-brother, Lawrence. Lawrence had been 
educated in England, and had served on land and sea in the West 
Indies under General Wentworth and Admiral Vernon. George 
was very fond of this brother, who after his father's death became 
his friend and adviser. He was proud of the manly bearing and 
the polished manners of Lawrence and tried hard to be like him. 

Lawrence was related to Lord Fairfax, an old English gentle- 
man of wealth and culture, who became much interested in George. 
He was able to teach the boy much that was useful and lent him 
books from his library. Lord Fairfax and George were often seen 
together, riding and hunting. Though one was over sixty years 
old and the other a boy of only fourteen, they were real com- 
panions, for each understood and trusted the other. 

But we will return to George's earlier boyhood days. We find 
that he was very much like the boys of our own times. He wanted 
to see things, to know how things were done, and to be able to do 
them himself in the best way. He was exact and painstaking in 
everything he did. 

He was taught to read and write by Mr. Hobby, one of his 
father's tenants, who was also sexton of the parish. He afterward 
went to a school kept by a Mr. Williams, where he learned arith- 
metic and land surveying. WTien he was nearly twelve years old his 
father died, leaving him to the care of a wise mother and his brother 
Lawrence. Though the father had much land and was able to 
leave some to each of his children, most of the propert}' was left 
to Lawrence, the elder son. 

Land did not count for so much in those days as it does now, 
and ready money was hard to get, so it was necessary for George to 
begin to do something for himself when he was only a boy. At 
first he thought he would like to be a sailor. But his mother and 
his uncle advised him not to go to sea and so he gave up the idea 
and went back to his books. His mother was a sensible woman, 
who always tried to do what was best for her children. In later 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON 155 

years she was able to say that George had been a good boy, and she 
was sure he would do his duty. 

At fourteen he was a tall, strong, hearty, good-looking boy, 
and he liked girls. He fell in love with one girl whom he called 
the "Lowland Beauty.'* But it seems that she did not love him, 
as she married another man when she grew up. She became the 
mother of General Harry Lee of the Revolution, and General 
Eobert E. Lee was her grandson. 

When he was sixteen years old George Washington's real work 
began. His friend Lord Fairfax wanted his lands surveyed, and 
he gave the work to George. He knew the boy had the courage 
necessary for such a task, and he was also sure that it would be 
well done. 

To survey these lands George would have to travel through 
wild forests and over the Blue Eidge Mountains. He would be 
exposed to danger of many kinds. He would probably meet In- 
dians who might not always be friendly. He knew that he would 
as often be cold, wet and hungry as he would be warm and well fed. 
But these things did not frighten him. With a companion he 
went into the Shenandoah Valley, surveying and taking careful 
notice of the country and everything he passed. This experience 
was afterward of much value to him. It prepared him for his 
future great work. 

14L "War Clouds in the "West. Already the French and Eng- 
lish were both claiming the country in the Ohio Valley, and war 
seemed near at hand. Virginia was divided into districts, and 
her young men began to train for fighting. When Washington 
was only nineteen years old he was made a staff officer of the state, 
with the rank of major. He now began to study the art of war in 
earnest, taking lessons from two of his brother's comrades. 

142. Death of Lawrence Washington. But the lessons had not 
gone very far when Lawrence was taken ill. He decided to go to 
the West Indies in search of health, and he wished George to go 



156 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



with him. The elder brother did not find health, but George found 
the smallpox, which he took. Soon after their return to Virginia 
Lawrence died. He left his only child, a daughter, for George to 
care for. The little girl was delicate. She was tenderly cared for, 
but she died soon after her father. 

Through the death of Lawrence and his daughter the "Washing- 
ton estate fell to George. This made him a rich man, but his wealth 

did not spoil 
him. While re- 
specting him- 
self, he al- 
ways could 
see true worth 
in others. 

Law rence 
had named 
his estate in 
honor of his 
m u c h-1 o ved 

admiral, and we still know it as Mount Vernon. With these added 
lands came more care for George. He was not lazy and work was 
pressed upon him. And whatever he agreed to do he did with all 
his might. George had now taken upon himself the work of a 
man, and so we must think of him as a man from this time on. 

143. Washington's Journey, ^^^lile he w^as away from home 
and during his brother's illness the war cloud in western Pennsyl- 
vania had grown bigger. The French traders and soldiers tried to 
keep back the English settlers and to hem them in by a chain of 
forts. They also sought to win the Indians to their side, and 
many of the red men became friends of the French. 

Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia thought it was time to compel 
the French to keep off English ground. He wanted to send some 
one on a visit to them. The visit would not be a very friendly one 




MOUNT VERNON 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 157 

and no one seemed anxious to go. To reach these forts it was 
necessary to travel five or six hundred miles, and there were many 
Indians along the way, some friendly to the French and some to the 
English. The trouble was to know who were friends and who were 
enemies. 

Washington said he would take the governor's message. He 
started October 30, 1753, when he was not yet twenty-two years 
old. On this journey he and his men outwitted the Indians and 
braved many dangers. He delivered the governor's letters to the 
French commander and made sketches of the French forts he 
visited. He also took notes on the country through which he 
passed. 

In crossing a river Washington and a companion fell into the 
icy water. They climbed ashore on an island, where they had to 
spend the night in their frozen clothing. Washington never forgot 
that night of agony. But he was not a man to talk about him- 
self or his sufferings. Neither did he boast when victory came. 

After this journey people thought better than ever of George 
Washington. They felt that here was a man ready for action when 
he was needed. And he was soon needed. 

144. Virginia Forces Sent "West. The reply that Washington 
brought back from the French was not the kind Governor Din- 
widdle desired. He raised a force to go out and make them obey. 
Washington was asked to lead this force, but he refused to, as he 
thought himself too young to do it well. Colonel Fry was made 
the commander, but he died upon the way. Washington was now 
obliged to fill the place which he had been too modest to take 
before. 

Shortly after, General Braddock was sent over to take the com- 
mand, and Washington acted as his aide. At first Braddock did 
not think much of his young aide, and would take no advice from 
him. But Washington soon gained the respect and good will of the 
British officer. 



158 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



We have already spoken of Braddock's defeat at Fort Duquesne. 
The English general made up his mind to go into battle with his 
red-coated troops in the lead, instead of the Virginia soldiers in 
their dark clothes. He did so, and so good a target did his men 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE 



make that they were soon wild with terror, and fled from the 
field. 

Braddock had made a great blunder in his fight with his French 
and Indian enemies. "We shall know how to deal with them an- 
other time," he said, but another time never came to him. He 
soon died from a bullet wound in his lungs, received while he was 
trying to rally his men. He left his horse and servant to Washing- 
ton. Perhaps he wished to show that he was sorry he had not 
listened to his aide's advice. 

Washington fought bravely, and was in the thickest of the 
fight. Four bullets passed through his coat, and two horses were 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 169 

shot under him, and yet he was not hurt. The Indians thought he 
had a charmed life, but Washington believed that God had a pur- 
pose in sparing him. 

145. Washington's Marriage. Up to this time Washington 
had been content with the simple dress of the Eangers, as the 
Virginia troops were called. But when the British soldiers came, 
with their gay uniforms and brilliant weapons, he felt he would 
have to take more pains with his dress. History tells us that at 
this time "he wore a uniform of buff and blue, with a scarlet 
and white cloak, and a sword knot of red and gold." He was a 
tall, handsome man, and he rode a splendid horse, worthy to carry 
such a master. 

Thus we see him traveling to Boston. Beside him are his two 
aides, also dressed in buff and blue, and behind him ride his col- 
ored servants, in their silver-laced hats and wearing the Wash- 
ington colors of scarlet and white. 

His fine clothes were not the only change in his life at this 
time. Again he fell in love, this time with Mrs. Martha Custis, a 
charming young widow. A brilliant wedding soon followed. It 
is said that the bride was beautiful in silk and satin, lace and 
pearls. General Washington wore his army uniform of blue and 
silver, with the touch of the Washington scarlet, and gold buckles 
on his garters and shoes. The bride rode to her new home in a 
coach drawTi by six horses, with her husband on horseback beside 
her, followed by a gay party of mounted gentlemen dressed in their 
best scarlet and gold. 

This marriage brought Washington still more wealth, and his 
hands were now full with the care of his great plantation. He was 
a man of method, and very exact in his dealings in business. 
Everything about him must be kept in the best of order. He was 
strict with those who served him, but he was always kind to them. 
He never bought or sold a slave, and his servants seemed proud of 
so good a master. Everything that went from his plantation was 



160 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

the best of its kind. Goods which bore his name were known to be 
just what they were claimed to be. 

146. Commaiider-in-Cliief of the Army. While Washington 
was enjoying the quiet of his home, the affairs of the colonies were 
going from bad to worse. It was seen that there would soon be 
serious trouble with England. The colonies united for better pro- 
tection. They thought war might be coming. 

Washington read, watched, and thought deeply. Although he 
loved England and thought her government the best on earth, he 
saw the folly of the "Stamp Act," and read with interest of the 
tea-chests floating in Boston Harbor. 

His sympathy was with Massachusetts, and when he was 
elected Commander-in-Chief of the American Army in June, 1775, 
he believed it was his duty to accept the position, and once more 
serve his country. 

He found that he was not only to command an army, but 
that he must gather it together. At first this army was but a com- 
pany of brave, untrained men, with officers but little more capable. 
Many men enlisted for only a short time, and just as they were 
about fitted for service they woidd return to their homes, having 
had enough of war. They found that there was much besides glory 
in fighting. 

The army would soon have melted away had not Washington 
kept begging Congress and the country for money and men. As 
the soldiers' time of service expired he often was obliged to dis- 
band one set of men while getting another together. Food, cloth- 
ing and ammunition must be had, and the soldier was obliged 
to take liis pay in paper money, which was of but little value during 
the most trying times of the war. Washington himself would take 
no pay. He let Congress pay only his actual expenses, of which he 
kept a careful account. He even pledged his own estate to raise 
money to carry on the war. 

Washington had many things to trouble him now. Some of his 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



161 



men were so afraid of danger that they deserted, and Washington 
had no patience with a coward. Then, too, there were those 
under him who were working for their own interests, and not for 
the good of the country. Even some of his generals were untrue 
to him. He was blamed for not doing what others thought he 
ought to do, but people did not consider how difficult was his task. 

In our times we hear 
only praise for this great 
man. We can scarcely 
think of his being blamed 
and misunderstood by 
those whom he was try- 
ing to serve with all his 
might, but such was the 
case. He was obliged to 
write some very sharp 
letters to Congress, to get 
what he saw was actually 
necessary. 

We cannot, however, 
follow him through the 
long and bloody war 
which now began. For 
eight years he shared 
with his troops toil, dan- 
ger, hunger, sickness and 
exposure; and added to 

these hardships he had the care and burden of commanding, of 
which his troops knew nothing. 

Great Britain looked upon the colonists as rebels, and thought 
they had no right to carry on war. Washington tried to make 
the English respect the American people and army. General Howe 
once sent a letter to General Washington. It was addressed "Mr. 
Washington." General Washington would not receive it. Howe 




GEORGE WASHINGTON 



162 JUNIOE HISTOBY OP THE UNITED STATES 

then wrote to "George Washington, Esq., etc., etc." General Wash- 
ington would not receive this letter either. Howe said : "The etc., 
etc., means everything." Washington said: "It may also mean 
anything." So the English general was obliged to address him by 
his proper title. 

147. The Close of the War. The English people soon found 
that the Americans had a general who knew what he was about, 
and their contempt was turned to respect. In many battles the 
Americans were beaten, but soon the people realized that they 
nmst fight the war through or become little better than slaves. 
They were willing to sacrifice everything, and rallied around their 
chief. And victory came at last. In September, 1783, the big 
boy and the little brother agreed to live apart in peace. 

After saying good-by to his officers Washington resigned his 
command and returned to his home. He needed rest, and he had 
earned it. 

148. President of the United States. But again the people 
called on him for help. This time he was asked to be president 
of a convention which met to make a constitution for the governing 
of our new-born nation. 

Still greater honor was given him. He was chosen the first 
President of the United States. This was an honor that brought 
with it many new cares. He would rather not have accepted it, 
but he felt that it was his duty to do what the people asked. So 
in April, 1789, he started for New York to take the oath of this 
new office. 

This journey was quite different from the one he had taken 
twelve and a half years before. Then he had crossed the Delaware 
with a footsore, weary, ragged army, amid floating ice, in Decem- 
ber weather; now he came with music, bells, flowers and gaily- 
dressed followers. Across the once icy river at Trenton stretched 
a bridge, and over the bridge was an evergreen arch. Instead of 
on blood-stained snow he now trod on the flowers cast at his feet. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 163 

As he passed over the scenes of his toils and trials and his hard- 
fought battles, he was greeted on every side by the cheers of a 
grateful people. 

He reached New York, and took the oath of office. Then a 
voice cried out: "Long live George Washington, President of the 
United States!" At the same time flags were unfurled and bells 
were rung. The cannon in the forts and on the ships in the har- 
bor added their peals of joy to the shouts of the people. 

A second time he was elected as President. Eight years he 
served his country in war and eight years in peace. He was just 
as faithful in keeping the nation a unit as he was in making it. 
His life was not a long one, but it was full of good. He was always 
silent about himself, but he was outspoken as to his country's 
needs. 

149. Death of "Washington. A wise, a great, a good man 
passed from earth when Washington died at Mount Vernon, De- 
cember 14, 1799. " 'Tis well," were his last words, and they might 
have been said of his life. 

EXERCISE ON WASHINGTON 

Give the date of Washington's birth. Give an account of his 
boyhood. Did he have much of a school education? It is said 
Washington was not a "prig" ; what is meant by that ? AVhere are 
the West Indies? Tell about Washington's surveying experience. 
Tell of the sickness and death of Lawrence Washington. What 
caused the trouble in western Pennsylvania ? WHio claimed the land 
west of the Alleghanies? Why? Tell the story of Washington's 
journey to the French forts. How old was he then? Give an ac- 
count of his marriage. How did he treat his slaves ? Explain some 
of Washington's difficulties as commander. Tell the story of Gen- 
eral Howe and "Mr. Washington." When did Washington become 
President ? Describe his journey from Mount Vernon to New York. 
How many years was Washington President ? 



CHAPTEH XII 



THE AVAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



150. Taxes. The French and Indian War had cost a great 
deal. America had done more than her share in helping to pay for 
it, but England -n-anted her to pay more. This the Americans did 
not like. They believed they had already paid their part, both in 
men and in money. They had suffered much from Indian outrages, 
and had lost many men in battle, through exposure, and by disease. 
They had also taxed themselves to pay large sums of money to meet 

the expenses of the war. If 
all they had done was not 
enough to pay their share, 
they were willing to tax 
themselves more, but they 
did not wish to be taxed by 
England. 

This trouble about taxes 
was the chief cause of the 
Eevolutionary War. From 
1765 to 1775 there were 
many stirring events which 
are classed as causes of the war, but all began with the efforts of 
England to tax her American people without their consent. 

For more than a hundred years England had been taxing the 
foreign commerce of her colonies. That is, she compelled all mer- 
chants to pay a tax on goods of every kind which were brought into 
the colonies from other countries. 

164 




POWDER HORN 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



165 



We know that when we wish to Hand a letter we first place a 
poniard stamp on the envelope. The stamp must be bought of the 
United States Government, at the postoffice. When it is placed 
on the envelope it shows that the government has been paid for 
carrying the letter for us. WTiat we pay 
for letter postage is not a tax, but a stamp 
tax is somewhat like it. Every legal paper, 
such as a bank check, a draft, a promis- 
sory note, a deed or mortgage, must have a 
certain number of stamps on it in order 
to make the paper of any legal value. For 
instance, a deed would be of no value un- 
less it had a proper stamp on it. When 
the stamps are bought of the government 
officer a stamp tax is paid. 

In 1765 England passed the "Stamp 
Act." By this act or law all legal papers 
in America must bear a stamp, and this 
stamp must be bought of the British Gov- 
ernment. Thus England sought to tax 
the American people without their consent. 

When the Americans learned of this law 
they were very angry. They made up 
their minds not to pay the stamp tax if 
they could avoid it. When the stamp offi- 
cers came over from England to sell the 
stamps, no one seemed to need any. The 

people decided not to give any notes or mortgages or to make out 
any deeds, so the stamps were not called for. The stamp officers 
were told to resign their office or leave the country. In a short 
time there were neither stamps nor officers to be found. 

The Americans now agreed among themselves not to buy any 
goods made in England. They said : "We will raise our own flax 




REVOLUTIONARY 
PIKES 



166 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

and cotton, shear our o^vn sheep, spin and weave our own cloth, and 
make our own clothing." When they did this they needed no more 
linen from the Irish looms, and no more calico and breadcloth from 
the English factories. The London merchants soon found they had 
goods they could not sell and this made them come to the aid of 
the Americans. The British Government did away with the Stamp 
Act. So the first victory was with the Americans. 

151. The Boston Tea Party. Boys and girls do not like to be 
beaten, either in games or in argument. Men and women are 
boys and girls grown large. A nation is a man grown very large. 
A nation does not like to be defeated any more than does a big boy. 
So the great boy Britain said : "I will show you that I can tax you 
if I want to," and he wanted to. 

England tried another plan. The colonists had been buying 
most of their tea, sugar, cloth and many other things from English 
merchants. England now made the Americans pay taxes on these 
goods. Again the Americans punished England by not using Brit- 
ish-made goods. So the Americans won another victory. 

The tax was now taken from all goods except tea. The big boy 
meant by this to say to the little boy : "I will keep this small tax on 
tea to show you that I can tax you." 

George III, King of England, knew the Americans to be lovers 
of tea, and he thought they would not object to the small tax of 
threepence a pound. But he did not know the spirit of his Ameri- 
can subjects. They refused to drink tea on which any tax whatever 
had been paid. Shiploads of tea were sent from England to dif- 
ferent American ports, but the people would not receive it. 

At Boston the English officers, being in favor of the king's 
plans, were determined to land the tea at any cost. A committee 
was appointed by the people to go to the governor and ask him to 
send the tea back to England. For twenty days the committee tried 
to make the governor agree to do so, but he would not. The time 
came when something must be done. 



THE WAR OF THE EEVOLUTION 



167 



One day there was a meeting of the committee in Old South 
Church. A message had just come from the governor. He would 
not yield, and the next day the tea was to be unloaded. Samuel 
Adams arose and said : "This meeting can do nothing more to 
save the country." A question came from the audience : "Will tea 
mix with sea-water ?" Some one else shouted : "Let us make 
Boston Harbor a teapot to-night ! Hurrah for Griffin's wharf !" 




THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY 



168 JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The tea-ships lay at Griffin's wharf. On the streets an Indian 
war-whoop was heard. A small party of men dressed as Indians 
marched down to the harbor, boarded the ships, broke open the tea- 
chests and threw the contents into the water. When the work was 
done the Indians disappeared. 

This was in 1773. This destruction of the tea was not the act 
of a mob. The Boston people had ordered it through their com- 
mittee and these make-believe Indians had been chosen to do the 
work. 

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

Boys and girls, did you ever hear 

How at Boston Harbor in seventy-three, 
With never a care or thought of fear, 

Your forefathers gave an expensive tea? 
One hundred thousand the supper cost 

And John Bull the expenses bore; 
The Colonists thought the sum well lost. 

Although the supper exhausted their store. 

'Twas not that our fathers could not drink tea, 

For they knew where the sage and the sassafras grew; 
But the taxes they would not pay, you see. 

Although they were light as the falling dew. 
The King's designs were dark and deep, 

Although he sold his tea for a song. 
But principle was not bought so cheap 

A.nd men prepared to resent the wrong. 

So rather than yield to tyrannical laws, 

And be taxed without voice in making the same, 
The Colonists voted to fight for their cause 

And forever to love fair Liberty's name. 
For when Patrick Henry, calm and brave. 

In Virginia said, * ' No hope, we must fight ! ' ' 
It seemed that the crest of the battle wave 

Already rose high for God and the right. 



THE WAR OF THE EEVOLUTION 169 

Old Faneuil Hall has stories to tell 

Of voices that ring down the aisles of the past; 
Like the tones of Old Independence Bell 

They '11 be heard through our history to the last. 
When Adams said, * ' We can do no more 

To save our country by meeting here," 
There rose a shout, * * To the nearest shore, 

King George's tea-ships are lying near." 

To "Griffin's Wharf" they quickly flew, 

Those "Sons of Freedom" as Indians dressed. 
Rowed out to the ships, alarmed the crew. 

Filling with terror each redcoat's breast. 
They quickly opened the chests of tea 

Till they numbered three hundred and forty-two. 
And emptied the contents into the sea 

And quickly left without an adieu. 

Without a fear they rowed to the dock, 

Where friends of justice stood and cheered; 
'Twas twelve by the Old South Church clock 

When they reached the Hall so much revered. 
Brave and strong was the little band. 

Daring and just the deed they had done; 
Their story has echoed through every land, 

Since the war with England was there begun. 

The Patriots rejoiced that moonlight night, 

When a British Admiral whom all well knew 
Called from his window just in sight 

To wait till he'd tell them what to do. 
"You've had a fine night," the Admiral said, 

"For your Indian caper down the bay. 
But remember, boys, those who have led 

In the work to-night have the fiddler to pay. ' ' 

' * Oh, never mind, squire, ' ' one quickly replied, 

"Just come out, please; we'll settle in cash 
In two minutes' time"; but the officer relied 

On the patriot's word and dropped the sash. 



170 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

And parents who live in the Old Bay State 

Love to tell their children at this late day 
How tea and taxes both lost their weight 

By sinking that cargo in Boston bay. 

— H. Etta Murphy. 

152. Boston Port Bill. King George and his followers were 
very angry when news came of the Boston Tea Party. They made 
up their minds to punish the city of Boston. So a law was passed 
by the British Parliament which forbade ships to enter or leave 
Boston Harbor for the purpose of trade. This law was known as 
the Boston Port Bill. It was to remain in force until the city paid 
for the tea which had been thrown into the harbor. 

This law was a heavy blow not only to Boston but to all Massa- 
chusetts. The other colonies urged the Boston people to stand 
firmly for their rights. Aid came from all sides. Salem offered 
the use of her wharves to Boston. Wheat came from New York. 
Two hundred barrels of rice were given by South Carolina. North 
Carolina gave ten thousand dollars in cash. Cattle and sheep were 
sent from New England. Grain, flour and other supplies came 
from different parts of the country. All the colonies knew that 
Boston's struggle was their own. 

England passed four other laws, and did many things which led 
all thoughtful Americans to see that they had something more than 
taxes to fight. They knew they must fight for liberty itself. 

153. The Minute Men. When Boston Harbor was closed to 
commerce the Massachusetts Committee of Safety began to prepare 
for war. The militia of the colony, known in history as Minute 
Men, was organized into companies and regiments, and officers were 
appointed. The men were drilled every day. Powder, balls, mus- 
kets, cannon, salt fish, beef, pork, rice and other food and war sup- 
plies were collected and stored in the different to^vns and villages 
for use in case of war. 

154. Paul Revere's Ride. The British had a force of about 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



171 



five thousand men in Boston. General Gage commanded them. He 
sent out an expedition of about eight hundred men to capture and 
destroy the American supplies stored at Concord. By some means 
the Americans learned of his plan. During the night of April 18th, 
Paul Eevere, with two companions, rode in the bright moonlight to 
warn the Minute Men of the approach of the British soldiers. 

Hancock and Adams 
were at Lexington. When 
the warning came they 
fled. Had they been cap- 
tured, they would have 
have been taken to Eng- 
land and tried for trea- 
son, and perhaps would 
have been hanged. 

Perhaps you know 
Longfellow's poem about 
Paul Eevere's ride. If 
not you must be sure to 
read it. 

155. Battle of Lex- 
ington. Before sunrise 
on April 19, 1775, the 
British soldiers reached 
Lexington. Drawn up in 
battle-line on the village 

green stood a company of thirty-eight Minute Men, ready to meet 
the eight hundred regulars. Captain Parker, the commander of 
the little band of patriots, said to his men: "Don't fire unless 
you are fired on ; but if they want a war, let it begin here." And 
there it began. 

The Americans were fired upon, seven being killed and nine 
wounded. The British continued their march to Concord, where 




$TANO VOUR GROUND 
don't riRt UNLEiS riREO UPOH ,, 
euT IF THCY MEAN TO HAVE WAI 
lET IT eECIN HERt 




- n^ 



MINUTE MEN ROCK 



172 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

tlicy destroyed all they could find. Near the Concord bridge the 
first British soldier was killed. The regulars now began their 
return march, but it soon became a flight. Had not Lord Percy 
come to their relief the British would have fared much worse than 
they did. 

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 

Slowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping, 

Bright on the dewy buds glistened the sun, 
When from his couch, while his children were sleeping, 
Rose the bold rebel and shouldered his gun. 

Waving her golden veil 

Over the silent dale, 
Blithe looked the morning on cottage and spire; 

Hushed was his parting sigh, 

While from his noble eye 
Flashed the last sparkle of liberty's fire. 

On the smooth green where the fresh leaf is springing 

Calmly the first-born of glory have met; 
Hark! the death-volley around them is ringing! 

Look! with their life-blood the young grass is wet! 

Faint is the feeble breath, 

Murmuring low in death, 
"Tell to our sons how their fathers have died"; 

Nerveless the iron hand, 

Raised for its native land, 
Lies by the weapon that gleams at its side. 

Over the hillsides the wild knell is tolling, 

From their far hamlets the yeomanry come; 
As through the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling. 
Circles the beat of the mustering drum. 

Fast on the soldier's path 

Darken the waves of wrath, — 
Long have they gathered, and loud shall they fall; 

Red glares the musket's flash. 

Sharp rings the rifle's crash. 
Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 173 

Gaily the plume of the horseman was dancing, 

Never to shadow his cold brow again; 
Proudly at morning the war-steed was prancing; 
Reeking and panting he droops on the rein ; 

Pale is the lip of scorn, 

Voiceless the trumpet horn, 
Torn is the silken-fringed red cross on high ; 

Many a belted breast 

Low on the turf shall rest 
Ere the dark hunters the herd have passed by. 

Snow-girdled crags where the hoarse wind is raving, 

Rocks where the weary floods murmur and wail, 
"Wilds where the fern by the furrow is waving, 
Reeled with the echoes that rode on the gale; 

Far as the tempest thrills 

Over the darkened hills, 
Far as the sunshine streams over the plain. 

Roused by the tyrant band, 

Woke all the mighty land, 
Girded for battle, from mountain to main. 

Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying! 
Shroudless and tombless they sunk to their rest, 
While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying 

Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest. 
Borne on her Northern pine. 
Long o'er the foaming brine 
Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun; 
Heaven keep her ever free, 
Wide as o 'er land and sea 
Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won! 

—0. W. Holmes. 

156. Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, was fought the hattle 
of Bunker Hill. Here the Americans were driven from their posi- 
tion, but they fought so manfully that all America was made to 
feel that Great Britain would never conquer her colonies west of 
the Atlantic. All hope of a peaceful settlement went up in the 
battle clouds of Lexington and Bunker Hill. 



174 



JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 



157. Eight Years of 
War. The war continued 
in America for eight 
years, though the real 
fighting covered a period 
of six and one-half years, 
from April 19, 1775, to 
October 19, 1781. 

In the fall of 1777 the 
British were badly beaten 
in a battle fought near 
Saratoga, N. Y. Here 
General Burgoyne sur- 
rendered his whole army 
of six thousand men to 
the Americans. 

158. The Yorktown 
Surrender and Peace. 
The last great defeat of 
the British was at York- 
to^\Ti, Ya. Here, October 




19, 1781, Lord Cornwal- 
lis surrendered an army 
of seven thousand men 
to the combined forces of 
France and the United 
States. On April 19, 
1783, the eighth anniver- 
sary of the battle of Lex- 
ington, peace was pro- 
claimed throughout the 
United States. 

Independence had been 
declared July 4, 1776, 
but it took the long, 
bloody Eevolutionary 
War to make the Decla- 
ration mean anything. 
War is a dreadful thing, 
but it was through war 
that we became an inde- 
pendent nation. 






7^ 
BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 

Thousands of men gave their lives that America might live. 
Should not their brave deeds live in our memory ? 



THE WAR OF THE EEVOLUTION ^ 175 

159. Francis Marion, the Southern Patriot. During the Eevo- 
lutionary War the southern patriots under the leadership of 
Marion, Sumter and Pickens did much to defeat the British in 
South Carolina. They did not have men enough to fight the enemy 
in open battle, but they would hide in the swamps and among 
the hills, and when they found a chance to attack a small number 
of red-coats, they did so. In this way they made the British keep 
close to their camps or the towns, and hindered them from getting 
provisions from the country. 

Although these men were under the command of General 
Greene, they fought largely by themselves, enduring many hard- 
ships and braving many dangers. Marion was known as the 
"Swamp Fox," and Bryant tells in rhyme the deeds of Marion's 
band. 

SONG OF MARION'S MEN 

Our band is few, but true and tried, 

Our leader frank and bold; 
The British soldier trembles 

When Marion's name is told. 
Our fortress is the good greenwood, 

Our tent the cypress-tree; 
We know the forest round us 

As seamen know the sea; 
We know its walls of thorny vines, 

Its glades of reedy grass. 
Its safe and silent islands 

Within the dark morass. 

Wo to the English soldiery 

That little dread us near! 
On them shall light at midnight 

A strange and sudden fear; 
When, waking to their tents on fire. 

They grasp their arms in vain, 
And they who stand to face us 

Are beat to earth again; 



176 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

And they who fly in terror, deem 

A mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands 

Upon the hollow wind. 

Then sweet the hour that brings release 

From danger and from toil; 
We talk the battle over. 

And share the battle's spoil. 
The woodlands ring with laugh and shout, 

As if a hunt were up. 
And woodland flowers are gathered 

To crown the soldier's cup. 
With merry songs we mock the wind 

That in the pine-top grieves. 
And slumber long and sweetly 

On beds of oaken leaves. 

Well knows the fair and friendly moon 

The band that Marion leads — 
The glitter of their rifles, 

The scampering of their steeds. 
'Tis life to guide the fiery barb 

Across the moonlit plain; 
'Tis life to feel the night-wind 

That lifts his tossing mane. 
A moment in the British camp — 

A moment — and away! 
Back to the pathless forest. 

Before the peep of day. 

Grave men there are by broad Santee, 

Grave men with hoary hairs; 
Their hearts are all with Marion, 

For Marion are their prayers. 
And lovely ladies greet our band 

With kindliest welcoming, 
With smiles like those of summer, 

And tears like those of spring. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



177 



For them we wear these trusty arms, 

And lay them down no more 
Till we have driven the Briton, 

For ever, from our shore. 

— William Cullen Bryant. 






-JioorJ^s 







BIRDSEYE VIEW OF BATTLE OP YORKTOWN 



160. George Rogers Clark. Colonel Clark, a neighbor of 
Thomas Jefferson, was born in 1752. At the age of twenty-three 
years he Joined Daniel Boone and his neighbors in the hunting- 
grounds of Kentucky. This was in 1775, the same year in which 
the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill were fought. 

Virginia claimed all the wild country to the west and northwest 
of her. Through the influence of Clark, the legislature of Vir- 
ginia organized the county of Kentucky as a part of the state. 
This county included all of the present state of Kentucky. 

At this time Governor Hamilton, with a British force, was sta- 
tioned at Detroit. He persuaded many of the Indians north of the 
Ohio Eiver to take up arras against the Americans. He gave the 
red men a certain price for each scalp they might get. This was 
a very cruel thing to do, and good Englishmen said much against 



178 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

it. The homes of the settlers were burned and the people either 
killed or taken captive. 

Young Clark believed that these cruelties could be stopped. 
With this idea in mind he returned to Virginia in 1777, to ask the 
aid of Patrick Henry, who was then the governor of the state. 
Clark's plan was to capture the British forts at Kaskaskia, Ills., 
and Yincennes, Ind. He also hoped to be able to take Detroit. 

Governor Henry quickly fell in with Clark's idea, and gave him 
money and ordered war-supplies to be collected at Pittsburgh, which 
was then known as Fort Pitt. Clark was commissioned to enlist 
, seven companies of fifty men each. After getting as many men as 
he could at Pittsburgh he passed down the river to the rapids of 
the Ohio, near the present site of Louisville. Here he was joined 
by others who had come over the mountains through the Cumber- 
land Gap, On Corn Island he built a small fort, and left a few 
men to guard it. 

After Clark had gone from this place some of the guard crossed 
over to the south bank of the Ohio and formed a settlement which 
was the beginning of Louisville. 

Clark had not taken all the forces with him from this point. 
He had several reasons for this. One was that Kentucky must be 
protected. Another was that up to the time he left only he and the 
governor knew what he meant to do. When his men learned his 
plans some of them deserted,, 

16L Kaskaskia Captured. So when Clark was ready to leave 
Corn Island, he had but one hundred and fifty-three men. With 
this little company he passed down the Ohio to the mouth of the 
Tennessee River. This start was made June 4, 1778, when the sun 
was in a total eclipse. 

At the mouth of the Tennessee Clark hid his boats in a small 
creek, and with his men started for Kaskaskia, a French settlement 
a hundred and fifty miles distant. On the afternoon of July 4, 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 



179 



1778, they came within sight of Kaskaskia, and concealed them- 
selves until darkness should cover their movements. The British 
vi^ere surprised and their fort taken. 

The French people were terrified when they found themselves 
under the control of the "Long Knives," as the Americans were 
called. The British sol- 
diers had told them that 
the Americans were a 
dreadful people who 
would kill them. 

It was Clark's plan to 
persuade these French 
people and the Indians to 
take the side of the 
Americans. Clark was 
just the man to do this, 
and the time was favor- 
able. As we know, that 
part of the country had 
belonged to the English 
only fifteen years and 
most of the settlers were 

French. The Indians, from the time of La Salle (that is, for 
nearly one hundred years) had been friends to the French. 

The year before, while he was in Virginia consulting with Gov- 
ernor Henry, Clark had heard of the surrender of Burgoyne. Just 
before leaving Corn Island he had heard that France was going to 
help the Americans against the English. As soon as the French 
settlers and Indians learned these things they were ready to take 
the American's side. 

162, Vincennes Captured. At this time Clark did not have 
a sufficient number of soldiers to send over to Vincennes. But a 
friendly French priest said he would go to Vincennes and persuade 




THE LIBERTY BELL 



180 JUNIOE HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES 

the people to favor the Americans. He was successful, and the 
American flag was placed over the fort at Vincennes. 

Governor Hamilton was not at all pleased with Clark's success. 
He gathered together a force of British and Indians, and moved 
from Detroit down the Wabash Eiver to Vincennes. 

Captain Helm and but one private soldier held the fort at Vin- 
cennes. A British officer demanded the surrender of the fort. Cap- 
tain Helm boldly said : "JSTo man shall enter this fort till I know 
the terms of surrender." "You shall have the honors of war," said 
the British officer. So Captain Helm with one solitary soldier 
marched out with all the honors of war before eight hundred British 
regulars. 

163. Clark and the Indians. When Vincennes fell into the 
hands of the Americans, Clark wished to make friends with all the 
Indian tribes in the region of the Wabash. But first he must win 
the great Indian chief known as the "Grand Door of the Wabash." 

Captain Helm met this proud old chief in a friendly way and 
told him that Colonel Clark had sent him an invitation to unite with 
the Long Knives and his old friend, the King of France. 

After several days Captain Helm was asked to attend a great 
Indian council. Here the "Grand Door" made an eloquent speech. 

"The sky," said he, "has been very dark in the war between the 
Long Knives and the English, but now that the clouds are brushed 
away, I can see that the Long Knives are in the right." 

Then he jumped up and struck his hands against his breast and 
said: "I have always been a man and a warrior, and now I am a 
Long Knife, and I shall tell the red people to bloody the land no 
longer for the English." 

The old chieftain remained faithful to the Americans while he 
lived. 

The first gathering of the Indians between the Great Lakes and 
the Ohio Eiver, to meet Colonel Clark, was at Cahokia, forty-five 
miles north of Kaskaskia and near St. Louis. 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 181 

In this great council the lighted peace-pipe was first presented 
to the heavens, then to the earth, next to all the spirits, and lastly 
to Colonel Clark and other members of the council. Then the 
principal chief arose and spoke in favor of peace and promised to 
fight no more for the English. 

At the time of these councils the Meadow Indians were offered 
a large reward if they would kill Colonel Clark. Some of them 
pitched their camp near the American fort. One dark night they 
came running to the fort, saying that they had been attacked by 
other Indians, and wanted to seek safety in the fort. But their 
trick was not a success. They were placed in chains. 

After all the other tribes had made treaties with Clark, these 
crafty Indians wished to do the same; but Clark would not listen 
to them. 

"You ought to die," said he, "but you are not Indians ; you are 
old women, and too mean to be killed by white men. Since you 
are squaws, you must be stripped of men's clothing and be dressed 
as squaws. In that dress you will be sent in safety to your homes." 

This punishment was too much for the red men's pride. Some 
of the friendly Indians tried to persuade Clark to make a treaty 
with them and let them go. 

"oSTo," said he, "the Americans never make war on such Indians. 
They are of a kind which we shoot like wolves because they kill 
the deer." 

But matters suddenly took another turn. After the guilty In- 
dians had talked together for a time, two young warriors came 
forward, covered their heads with blankets, and sat down at the 
feet of Colonel Clark. At the same time two chiefs came forward 
and presented the peace-pipe, saying : "These young men give their 
lives for the crime of their tribe." The young braves expected to 
be killed to wipe out the disgrace of their tribe. Few nobler deeds 
can be found in the history of any people, and they were but sav- 
ages of the forest who did this. 



182 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



After a long pause Clnrk lifted the blankets from the two 
young men, and ordered tliem to rise. He said: "I am pleaseil 
to find men among all nations. These two young warriors are 
proof for their own tribe. Sueh men are worthy to be ehiefs." 

Then taking these red heroes by the hand, he introdueed them 
to his officers, and saluted them as chiefs of their tribe. Xow, he 
said, he would make a treaty with the guilty Indians. 




SKsm 




INDIAN PEACE-PIPE 



164. Re-Capture of Vincennes. In February, 1779, Colonel 
Clark started from Kaskaskia to surprise and retake Vincennes. He 
took with him a force of one hundred and seventy men. 

At this time all the rivers had overflowed their banks. Wlien 
the Americans reached the Little Wabash Eiver tlicy saw a great 
expanse of water. For miles the whole country was Hooded. Here 
they built a canoe in which to carry their food and other supplies. 
They crossed the river, but on the other side they luul to march all 
day through water from two to four feet deep. 

Clark tells about this day in his report. He says : "By evening 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 183 

we found ourHclves encamped on a pretty height, in high spirits, 
each party laughing at the other becaufie of Homething that had hap- 
pened in the course of this ferrying business, as they called it. A 
little antic drummer afforded them much fun by floating on his 
drum." 

When they reached the main branch of the Wabash they had a 
still harder time crossing and some of the men were almost drowned. 
After a rest they marched on and were soon in sight of V'incennes. 

The wet, hungry and weary travelers entered Vincennes in the 
early evening, and complet^ily surprised the British. Governor 
Hamilton was in command of the fort. After a siege of only one 
day he surrendered. This was February 25, 1779, just twenty days 
after the start from Kaskaskia. 

The surrender of this fort brought peace to the northwest coun- 
try by stopping the Indian outrages. Detroit, though, remained 
in the hands of the British for many years. 

Clark's work gave the United States a claim to the great Horth- 
west country, including the five states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan and Wisconsin. Had it not been for his devotion and 
self-sacrifice these might now be a part of British America instead 
of the United States. 

165. Clark's Last Days. Yet he was allowed to spend his last 
years in poverty. Virginia voted him a sword in memory of his 
valiant deeds. AVhen it was presented to him he broke it. "When 
the nation wanted a sword," he said, "I gave it one. It is not a 
sword but bread I want." In 1818, just as Illinois was admitted 
into the Union as a state, he died. 

EXERCISE ON CLARK 

Where and when was Clark bom ? What do you know of Mon- 
ticello? When did Clark go to Kentucky? WTio was the first 
settler in Kentucky? What circumstances caused Clark to go to 
Illinois? Who was governor of Virginia at this time? Where 



184 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF TIIE UNITED STATES 




SCENE OF CLARK'S WORK 



is Pittsburgh? Where is Corn Island? When did Clark capture 
Kaskaskia? Vincennes? Why were the settlers of Kaskaskia 
French? Why were the Indians friendly to the French? How 
long had this country north of the Ohio been under 
the English ? Did the fact that France was helping the Americans 
mean much? Why? Did these conditions help Clark? Tell the 
story of Captain Helm's surrender of the fort. Tell the story of the 
"Great Door of the Wabash." Tell the story of Clark and the 
Meadow Indians. What is your opinion of the two young Indians 
who offered their lives for their tribe? Tell the story of Clark's 



THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 185 

march from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. What happened at Vin- 
cennes? Name the results of Clark's victories. Do you think he 
was properly rewarded? W^ien was Illinois admitted into the 
Union ? Give the time of Clark's death. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Locate Louisville. Trace Clark's route to Kaskaskia; from 
Kaskaskia to Vincennes. Trace Hamilton's route from Detroit to 
Vincennes. Along what two rivers did he travel? Where was 
Cahokia? Boonesboro was the first white settlement in Kentucky; 
on what river is it? Note all the rivers flowing into the Ohio; 
flowing into the Mississippi; into the Illinois. Note Lincoln's 
birthplace. 

166. The American Flag. Each nation has a flag, which is a 
symbol of the nation itself. Every ship must sail under the flag of 
some nation. This gives protection to the commerce of the seas. 
The flag not only gives protection, but its fluttering folds remind 
us of the past. Many thousands of men have given their lives so 
that our flag might wave, and so that the nation it represents might 
live and prosper. 

An old soldier looks upon his flag as no other person can. 
When he sees it floating in the breeze, he remembers how it looked 
in the smoke of battle and he seems to hear the roar of guns. His 
heart beats faster and his blood flows more quickly. He knows what 
that peaceful emblem cost in blood. 

Congress adopted our present flag on June 14, 1777. For this 
reason June 14th is celebrated as "Flag Day" in our public schools. 

The flag which Washington had used up to this time was made 
with seven red and six white stripes, and the British union jack in 
the corner. The new flag had stripes too, but in place of the union 
jack were thirteen white stars on a field of blue. Our present flag 
is the same, except that now there are forty-six white stars, one 
star for each state. 



186 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 




EVOLUTION OF OUR FLAG 

Flag to left, that used by Washington, 1776 ; flag to right, British Union 
Jack ; flag in middle adopted by Congress, June, 1777 ; below, arms of Washing- 
ton family. 

This picture shows how the United States flag may have grown 
out of the combination of the British flag and the arms of the 
Washington family. The three stars and the two stripes of the 
latter may have suggested the idea of the stars and stripes of our 
flag, but that is only a guess. 

Much has been written about the meaning of the different parts 
of our flag. Here is one interesting theory* : 

Of the colors, red signifies war, if necessary; white, arbitration, 
intelligence, justice; blue, industry, economy. 

The thirteen red and white stripes represent the thirteen col- 
onies, united for common defense and mutual assistance. The 
stripes were made of equal width to show that all the colonies had 
equal rights. 

The thirteen white stars on a blue field rcDresented a new con- 

* See Our Flag, by Robert Allen Campbell. 



THE WAE OF THE REVOLUTION 187 

stellation which had appeared in the heavens — a new nation, 
formed of thirteen states, which had taken its place among the 
nations of the earth. 

THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY 

What flower ia this that greets the morn, 
Its hues from Heaven so freshly born? 
With burning star and flaming band 
It kindles all the sunset land : 
Oh, tell us what its name may be, — 
Is this the Flower of Liberty? 

It is the banner of the free, 

The starry Flower of Liberty. 

In savage Nature's far abode 

Its tender seed our fathers sowed; 

The storm-winds rocked its swelling bud, 

Its opening leaves were streaked with blood. 

Till lo! earth's tyrants shook to see 

This full-blown Flower of Liberty. 

Then hail the banner of the free 

The starry Flower of Liberty! 

Behold its streaming rays unite, 

One mingling flood of braided light, — 

The red that fires the Southern rose 

With spotless white from Northern snows, 

And spangled on its azure, see 

The sister Stars of Liberty. 

Then hail the banner of the free, 

The starry Flower of Liberty! 

The blades of heroes fence it round, 
Where'er it floats is holy ground; 
From tower and dome its glories spread; 
It waves where lonely sentries tread; 
It makes the land as ocean free, 
And plants an empire on the sea! 

Then hail the banner of the free. 

The starry Flower of Liberty! 



188 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Thy sacred leaves, fair Freedom's flower, 
Shall ever float from dome and tower 
To all their heavenly colors true, 
In blackening frost or crimson dew, — 
And God love lis, as we love thee, 
Thrice holy Flower of Liberty. 

Then hail the banner of the free, 

The starry Flower of Liberty! — 0. W. Holmes. 

EXERCISE ON THE REVOLUTION 

Who paid the expenses of the French and Indian War? Tell 
about England's efforts to tax the colonists. Why do you put a 
stamp on a letter to be sent through the mail? What does the 
government do with the money it receives for the stamp? How 
does the government collect a stamp tax? Who passed the famous 
"Stamp Act" of history? When? Did England attempt to tax 
the colonists further? What was the nature of this tax? Was it 
successful ? What part was repealed ? What part was not repealed ? 
Why would the Americans not drink tea? Give an account of the 
Boston Tea Party. What was the Boston Port Bill ? Why did the 
English pass such a law ? How did the other colonies help Boston ? 
After the close of Boston Harbor what did the Massachusetts peo- 
ple do? Why did General Gage send soldiers to Concord? Who 
carried the news to the Minute Men? What two great men were 
sleeping at Lexington ? Did they escape ? What happened at Lex- 
ington in the early morning? What did Captain Parker say? 
What was the name of the war that began there? How long did 
it last? Why do United States histories say so much about the 
fight at Lexington and Concord ? What was the result of the Lex- 
ington battle ? When was the battle of Bunker Hill fought ? How 
long after that of Lexington? What happened in 1781? Locate 
these places on the map. What was the result of these two sur- 
renders? What nation helped us in the Eevolution? How long 
did the actual fighting last ? Name the first battle ; the last. Who 
was the American commander during this long war? 



CHAPTER XIII 

THOMAS JEFFERSON 

167. Jefferson's Early Life. Thomas Jefferson was born near 
Charlottesville, Va., April 13, 1743. Like Washington, he be- 
longed to a good family. His mother was one of the famous Ran- 
dolphs of Virginia. 

The Jeffersons were among the earliest settlers of Jamestown, 
and were of Welsh descent. Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas, 
died when the boy was but fourteen years old. 

When he was only seventeen years old Thomas entered William 
and Mary College at Williamsburg. This college, next to Harvard, 
is the oldest in the United States. For many years it was the finest 
college in the South. 

Thomas seems to have been a bright, studious, sensible boy. 
He tells us that he studied fifteen hours a day. After he was 
graduated from college he studied law. 

He grew to be a slim, raw-boned young man, six feet two inches 
tall. He had brownish gray eyes and reddish hair. 

Jefferson loved out-of-door sports, long walks in the woods, a 
fleet horse and an exciting fox hunt; but he also loved books and 
study, and he liked to be with educated people. Many of the young 
Virginians in those days were very wild, but Jefferson was not one 
of these, though some of them were his friends. He did not gamble, 
drink liquor or use tobacco, and he did not swear. He was fond 
of music, and dearly loved his violin, which he could play with 
skill. 

On the plantation left him by his father there was a little hill 

189 



190 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



on which Jefferson had for many years been planning to build a new 
house. He named the place "Monticello," which in Italian means 
"Little Mountain." It is a beautiful spot for a home. Before the 
new house had been completed, the old homestead at Shadwell 
caught fire, and all Jefferson's books and papers were burned. 
When the news of the fire was brought him by one of his negroes 
Jefferson asked: "But were none of my books saved?" "No, 
massa," was the sad reply, "but we saved de fiddle." 

168. Jefferson's Marriage. On New Year's Day, in 1772, 

Thomas Jefferson 
was married to a 
young widow. She 
was both beautiful 
and sensible, and 
she loved music 
and art just as Jef- 
She 




more 

many 

than 



ferson did. 
had much 
land and 
more slaves 
her husband. 

Their wedding 
journey was quite 
unlike that of Mr. 
and Mrs. Washing- 
ton. On the day of 
their wedding 
there had been a severe snowstorm, and a part of the journey was 
made after dark, and on horseback, through the deep snow. This 
was the beginning of a short but happy wedded life. 

169. His Public Life. "^Tiile he was yet a young man Jeffer- 
son was elected to the Virginia legislature. This legislature was 
known as the House of Burgesses. Washington, Patrick Henry, the 



SCHOOL ATTENDED BY JEFFERSON 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 191 

two Lees, Jefferson and Carr, his brother-in-law, were the great 
leaders of this body of men. They were much interested in the 
struggle between ]\Iassachusetts and England, and they were on the 
side of Massachusetts. 

This group of famous men were the first to appoint a Com- 
mittee of Correspondence. The plan was to have each colony ap- 
point a committee. These committees were to correspond with 
one another, and make plans by which the colonies could act to- 
gether against British tyranny. Samuel Adams of Massachusetts 
had suggested the same thing. 

The appointing of this Committee of Correspondence was a 
small thing in itself, but the results were very great. Besides lead- 
ing to the call of the first Continental Congress, these committees 
were very helpful in the support of the government during the 
Revolutionary period. 

The day that the Boston Port Bill was to go into effect in June, 
1774, Virginia kept as a fast-day. She did this to show her sym- 
pathy with Massachusetts. 

In 1775 Virginia sent Jefferson to attend the Congress which 
was to meet in Philadelphia. He reached Philadelphia in the 
middle of the summer. 

During this summer Congress sent petitions to the English 
king. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill had been fought, 
but the American leaders hoped the king would do right without 
more fighting. The stubborn king, George III, would not even 
answer the petition sent him. 

Jefferson was also a member of the Congress that met in the 
spring of the next year, 1776. About the middle of June it ap- 
pointed a committee of five men to draft a Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

170. Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, though 
he was the youngest member of this noted body, was made chair- 
man of the committee. The Declaration of Independence as we 



192 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

know it was written by Jefferson; only a few words were changed 
by the other members of the committee and by Congress. It was 
an honor to be one of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. Think, then, how much greater honor it was to be both a 
signer and its author. 

This Declaration of Independence was passed by Congress July 
4, 1776. 

171. His Work for Virginia. When America declared herself 
free from English rule, Virginia ceased to be a royal province of 
Great Britain, and became a state in the Union. She must now 
have a state constitution, and some of her laws must be changed. 
What Virginia did, all the other colonies did; that is, they ceased 
to be colonies and formed themselves into states. 

Jefferson was elected to the new state legislature, known as 
the House of Delegates. He now set to work to improve two very 
important laws. 

His first success was in changing the land laws. In Virginia 
in those days when a man died his eldest son inherited all the 
land and slaves. This kept the estate from being divided, and the 
land could not be sold, even for debt. So land was kept in the 
same family for many generations. Property held in this way is 
said to be entailed. Most of the land of the British Islands is en- 
tailed, but the states of our Union will not allow it to be held so. 

We remember that George Washington had but little prop- 
erty after his father's death. Lawrence, the elder brother, held 
all the land and slaves by entail. It was not until the death of 
Lawrence and his daughter that George came into possession of 
his father's estate. 

The new land laws proposed by Jefferson did away with all 
this. They gave all the children of the same family equal claims 
to the property left at the death of the parents. The rich planters 
of Virginia fought hard to keep the old laws of entail. They said 
the eldest son ought to have at least a double portion. "No," said 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 193 

Jefferson, *^not until the eldest son can eat double the amount of 
food, and do double the amount of work." These laws against 
entail do not deny the right of the parent to will his property as 
he chooses. 

At the beginning of the Eevolution Virginia had a state 
church like that of England. This church was supported by taxing 
all the people. Jefferson thought it was not right to tax members 
of other churches for the support of a church to which they did 
not belong. After some delay he succeeded in having this law 
changed, so that each church must support itself without aid 
from the state. 

The last years of Jefferson's life were devoted to the University 
of Virginia, near his home. He took great pride in three acts of 
his life, and wished to have a record of them inscribed on his 
tomb. These were, first, that he was the author of the Declaration 
of Independence ; secondly, that he was the author of the law giving 
religious freedom to Virginia; and, thirdly, that he was the father 
of the University of Virginia. He might have added a fourth 
with equal pride — that he was the author of a law giving equal 
rights to all the children of the same parents. 

Jefferson was Governor of Virginia for two years during the 
Revolutionary War. His position was a hard one, for Virginia was 
badly off just then. She was open to the enemy both from the sea 
and from the Mississippi Valley, west of her. Most of her best men 
were away, fighting in Washington's army, and her militia was not 
strong enough to protect her. Then, too, supplies were called for 
by our armies in North Carolina, and the state had no money with 
which to pay for these. 

During the summer of 1781 a British cavalry force overran 
a part of Virginia. They came to Monticello, but Jefferson had 
taken his family to a place of safety. Two of his colored servants 
hid the silver-plate under the floor of the house to keep it from 
the red-coats. 



194 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

One servant, named Caesar, took up a plank and slipped down 
under it to take the silver from the hands of the other servant. 
Just as the last piece was handed do^\^l, the red-coats came. The 
plank was hurriedly put hack in its place and poor Caesar was 
shut in. There he lay in the dark nearly three days and nights, 
without food or water, faithfully guarding his master's prop- 
erty. 

A British soldier placed a gun at the breast of Martin, the 
other servant, saying: "I will shoot you if you do not tell me 
where Jefferson is hiding." ''Fire away, then," said the faithful 
fellow. 

Not finding Jefferson, whom they were seeking, the British 
left the place without injuring it. Probably they did this because 
of the kindness Jefferson had shown to some British j)risoners 
who had been kept in camp near Monticello. 

- 172. Jefferson as a United States Officer. Soon after the close 
of the Eevolutionary War Jefferson was sent to France to represent 
the United States. In Paris some one said to him : "You come to 
replace Dr. Franklin?" "I succeed him," replied Jefferson; "no 
one can replace him." 

Jefferson remained in Paris five years, and he too liked the 
French people. But the suffering of the poor in the cities and 
among the peasants made him very unhappy. He made up his 
mind then that the republican form of government is the only 
right one, and this belief guided his actions all through his life. 

While he was in Europe our present Constitution was framed 
and adopted, and Washington was elected our first President. On 
his return to America Jefferson was made Secretary of State in 
Washington's cabinet. This was not an easy position to fill, as 
the affairs of our government were by no means settled, and the 
men at its head did not always agree as to how things should be 
managed. 

While Jefferson was Secretary of State war broke out between 



THOMAS JEFFEESON I95 

England and France, and France asked the United States for help. 
There was great excitement in America, as some people believed we 
ought to help our French friends and others felt it would not be 
right for us to do so. Jefferson acted very wisely in all his dealings 
with the two countries, and the people were so pleased with the 
way he had served them that he came very near being elected 
President in 1796, John Adams was made President, however, 
and Jefferson Vice-President. 

In 1801 Jefferson became President of the United States, 
and served two terms. One of his first important acts as President 
was to send to the Mediterranean four ships to overcome the Bar- 
bary States. When he was in Paris Jefferson had begged our 
government to stop paying tribute to these countries, and to send 
ships against them. All during the time he was in Europe he was 
working for the release of Americans who had been taken prisoners 
by the pirates. He now began the fight which was to end their 
power forever. 

173. Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, during Jefferson's first 
term as President, Louisiana was purchased from France. We 
remember that France once claimed all the Mississippi Valley; 
and that as a result of the French and Indian War she lost all 
of it. 

In 1800 Spain ceded back to France the western half of this 
valley. The United States had already won the eastern half as a 
result of the Revolution. Now, in 1803, the United States gained 
possession of the western half by the payment of $15,000,000. 

This purchase more than doubled the area of the United States. 
The western boundary of this vast territory was the dividing ridge 
of the Eocky Mountains north of the Arkansas Eiver. Its north- 
ern boundary was supposed to be the "divide" between the rivers 
flowing into the Hudson Bay and those flowing into the Mississippi 
River. 

But fifteen years after the purchase of Louisiana Great Britain 



196 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



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LOUISIANA PURCHASE, 1803 

and the United States made the forty-ninth parallel of latitude 
the boundary line between their possessions. It will be noticed 
that the forty-ninth parallel is very near the Great Northern 
Divide.* 



MAP EXERCISE ON LOUISIANA PURCHASE 

What bounds the Louisiana Purchase on the north? On the 
east? On the south? On the west? What mountains on the 
northwest? Name one or more rivers that flow through it. What 
river flows along its eastern border? Name at least one large city 
within the bounds of the Louisiana Purchase. Name at least five 
states that lie wholly within this purchase. 

174. Jefferson's Last Days. On March 4, 1809, Jefferson re- 
tired to Monticello. He never again left his native state. He 
loved his beautiful home and was happiest when there, with his 

family and friends. His house was always open, and was filled 
•A map lesson is due here. 



THOMAS JEFFEESON 197 

with guests the year round. His daily life was simple. He wrote 
a great deal, and spent much time at his beloved university. He 
spent hours on horseback eyery day, and used to ride spirited 
horses even after he was so feeble that he had to be lifted into the 
saddle. 

Thomas Jefferson died on the fourth day of July, 1826. Ameri- 
can Independence was declared July 4, 1776. The time between 
these two dates is fifty years to a day. 

EXERCISE ox THOMAS JEFFEESOX 

Compare the ages of Washington and Jefferson. Which was the 
elder? Where is William and Mary College? Describe Jefferson's 
personal appearance. Describe Monticello. Why were his servants 
so careful of "de fiddle"? Tell the story of his wedding journey. 
Give an account of the Declaration of Independence. Why do 
we celebrate the Fourth of July? Describe the old Virginia land 
laws. What changes in the laws of Virginia did Jefferson favor? 
Do you think it right for the eldest son to have all the land at 
the death of the father? What was Jefferson's reply to those who 
wanted a double portion for the eldest son? Who supports the 
churches in this country? What was Jefferson's idea about the 
state church? For what three things did Jefferson wish to be 
remembered? Can you add a fourth for which he should be hon- 
ored? TeU the story of the two faithful slaves. Name the three 
United States offices held by Jefferson. How long was he Presi- 
dent? Tell about the purchase of Louisiana. In your own lan- 
guage tell the story of the last days of Jefferson. 

175. Hail, Columbia! The words of "Hail Columbia" were 
written by Joseph Hopkinson in 1798, during a disagreement with 
France which very nearly led to war. The music, which was then 
known as the "President's March," was in common use, and young 
Hopkinson was requested to write a song to fit the music. "Hail, 
Columbia," our national song, was the result. 



CHAPTEE XIV 

WESTWARD EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT 

176. Beginnings of Tennessee and Kentucky. The Watauga 
Valley in northeastern Tennessee was the hive from which swarmed 
the settlers that spread over eastern and central Tennessee and 
Kentucky. The first few settlers on the Watauga Eiver came from 
Virginia down the valley of the Holston Eiver. 

In 1769 a number of hardy pioneers came to Watauga from 
the region of the Yadkin Eiver, in western North Carolina. To 
do this they must climb the Iron Mountains, a part of the Great 
Smoky Eange, which now marks the boundary of the present states 
of Tennessee and North Carolina. In 1772 the Watauga Asso- 
ciation was formed. This was the first government organized in 
Tennessee. 

In this region Daniel Boone, Eobertson, and other famous 
pioneers lived for some time. But one small valley, however beau- 
tiful or fruitful, was not enough to satisfy such men ; they wanted 
more room. They knew, also, that to the west roamed large herds 
of deer and buffalo; that all manner of smaller game, both bird 
and beast, was to be found in plenty. 

At tliis time Kentucky was an uninhabited region. It was 
sometimes called No-man's Land, as no tribe of Indians made 
their home there. But Indians from north of the Ohio Eiver 
and from Tennessee and Georgia used it as their hunting-grounds. 
As a consequence the Indians from the North and South were con- 
tinually at war, so that Kentucky was known as the "Dark and 
Bloody Ground." 

198 



WESTWARD EXPLOEATION 



199 



177. Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania, but in early 
life he migrated to the Yadkin Valley. On the banks of Boone's 
Creek, in Washington County, Tenn,, a beech tree is still standing, 
on which were cut the words: "D Boon ciled Bar on tree 1760."* 
You see young Boone had a strange Avay of spelling hilled and 
hear. It will also be seen that he spelled his name without the 
final e. The date (1760) shows him to have been twenty-five 
years old at the time ; it shows also that Boone had found his way 
into the valley of the Ten- 
nessee before any settle- 
ments had been made west 
of the mountains. 

Boone was a born hun- 
ter, and he loved the wild 
and lonely forest. Once 
when he was out hunting he 
climbed the Cumberland 
Mountains and saw the 
Kentucky Valley spread out 
before him. There, he felt, 
was the Hunter's Paradise. 

In 1769, with five com- 
panions, he passed through 
the Cumberland Gap into 

Kentucky. This gap, the river, and the mountains had been 
discovered and named as early as 1748. Boone and one of his 
companions were captured by the Indians, but they fortunately 
escaped. After hunting for six months the five companions of 
Boone returned to North Carolina. 

* Judge S. J. Kirkpatrick, President of Washington Cqunty (Tenn.) Historical 
Society, writes to tlie author as follows concerning the "D. Boon Tree' : -It is 
true that such a tree and such an inscription exist . . . The beech tree 
itself has been known and regarded as a historical fact for a period whereof the 
memory of man runneth not to the contrary. ... It has only been a short 
time since the inscription was fairly legible. . . . But for the fact of the 
tree's being of stunted growth, the cutting would, no doubt, long since have 
grown out." 








'^W5^;„,^^-.-»•"^ 



DANIEL BOONE 




200 JUNIOR HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES 

About this time Boone's brother came over the mountains, and 
by good fortune they met in the wilderness of Kentucky, where 
they lived during the winter in a little log cabin. 

In the spring the brother returned to his home for needed 
supplies and Daniel was alone for three months. Daniel had 
plenty to eat, as game was abundant, but it was rather a lonely 
life even for him. He had not even a dog or a horse to keep him 
company. 

His brother returned, bringing with him other hunters. In 
1771, however, they, with Daniel, went back to their old homes 
on the Yadkin, as the Indians were growing very warlike and 
troublesome. The people of the Watauga and Yadkin region be- 
came much interested in Boone's Land of Promise. But it was 
nearly two hundred miles distant, and to reach it they must pass 
over rugged mountains and among hostile Indians. 

Boone, with thirty men, made a road through this wild coun- 
try by cutting away brush and trees and leveling the rough places 
so that pack-horses might pass over it. This road is known as 
Boone's Trail or the Wilderness Road. It passed through the 
Cumberland Gap to the valley of the Kentucky, where the people 
from the Watauga and Yadkin region now flocked. 

178. Kentucky Settled. In 1775 these pioneers built a stock- 
ade fort on the banks of the Kentucky River. This was the first 
settlement made in Kentuclcy and was afterward known as Boones- 
boro. The fort was built in the form of a rectangle. 

On each corner was a two-story log house, which had loop- 
holes in its walls through which to shoot. Log houses were built 
along the sides but not close together. A large gate was in the 
center of each of the long sides. In times of danger cattle and 
other stock were driven to the center of the inclosure. The settlers 
had abundant use for this fort, as they were several times attacked 
by the Indians. The story of Boone is very interesting, but it 
would take a large book to tell all he did. 



WESTWARD EXPLORATION 



201 



H 



K 



PLAN OF A STOCKADE FORT 



A story of Boone's little daughter must close this account. One 
day she and two other little girls were playing in a canoe, when 
suddenly several Indians sprang from a thicket and seizing the 
helpless children carried them off as prisoners. Little Miss Boone 
was a chip off the old block. She was careful to leave prints of her 
feet in the soft ground, and as the Indians hurried her along she 
secretly fastened bits of her dress on the bushes, and broke off lit- 
tle twigs. Her idea was to show her father in what direction the 
Indians were taking her. 

As soon as the little girls' absence was discovered, Boone and 
several other men set out to find them. They came upon the party 
in camp, and crept up close before they were seen. The Indians 
fled, leaving the children in the hands of their friends. 

At last the settlers became too thick to suit Boone, and in 1795 
he sought new hunting-grounds in Missouri. There he died in 
1820. 

179. John Sevier was a Virginian by birth. In 1772 he came 
down the Holston Kiver to the Watauga. He was one of the few 



202 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

well-educated men of that region. During the Revolutionary War 
Sevier and a company of "Watauga Boys" did good service, though 
there were but a few hundred of the hardy pioneers. 

In 1780 five hundred of the Watauga Boys, with about the 
same number of other pioneers, utterly defeated eleven hundred 
British soldiers at King's Mountain. A few years before, these 
brave men had defeated a large force of Cherokees from Georgia 
under a chief named Dragging Canoe, and as soon as the British 
were overthrown at King's Mountain the Watauga Boys hurried 
back to their homes to fight these Indians again. 

Fierce old Dragging Canoe thought it a good time to attack the 
Watauga settlements while their defenders were absent. But Sevier 
was too quick for him. In the battle that followed Sevier and 
Dragging Canoe met face to face. Just as Dragging Canoe lifted 
his tomahawk to strike Sevier, a rifle ball came whizzing through 
the air ; Dragging Canoe fell, and Sevier was saved. 

At one time the Watauga fort was besieged by the Indians. We 
are told that during this siege Sevier fell in love with a young 
woman named Kate Sherrill. She was tall, brown-haired and 
pretty. One day while outside the fort, she was surprised by the 
Indians. Eunning like a deer, she reached the stockade. Spring- 
ing up so as to catch the top with her hands, she drew herself 
over and was caught by Sevier on the other side. She and Sevier 
were afterward married. 

180. State of Franklin. At the close of the Eevolution North 
Carolina, like some of the other colonies, ceded her claim to Ten- 
nessee to the national government. The people of Watauga im- 
mediately organized a state called Franklin, with John Sevier as 
governor. Then North Carolina took back the country she had 
ceded to the United States, which did away with the state of 
Franklin. Finally, when Tennessee was formed and taken into 
the' Union as a state, John Sevier was its first governor. 

181. James Kobertson, like Boone, came from the region of 



WESTWARD EXPLORATION 



203 



the Yadkin in North Carolina. He was among the earliest set- 
tlers in the Watauga Valley. As Boone was the pioneer of Ken- 
tucky, so Eobertson was the pioneer of Central Tennessee. In the 
spring of 1779 Eobertson and eight companions went to the great 
bend of the Cumberland Eiver, the site of the present city of Nash- 



"mm/>. 




........ '^iih^r^'c^^m^^Mr 



A BUFFALO 



ville. This place was then known as the French Licks or the 
Bluffs. 

A "lick" was a salt spring where the deer and buffalo went to 
satisfy their desire for salt. Hunters were in the habit of con- 
cealing themselves near the licks in order to shoot the animals when 
they came to lick the salt. Buffaloes were very numerous. "The 
ground shook under the gallop of the mighty herds; they crushed 
in dense throngs about the salt licks." 

In the fall of 1779 Eobertson led a company of men from the 
Watauga through the wilderness by way of Boone's Trail through 



204 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Cumberland Gap. From this point he struck off southwest along 
the Cumberland Eiver. Most of the time he followed the trail 
made by buffalo herds. He reached the French Licks about the 
last of the year. 

Another party took the women, children and baggage down the 
Tennessee and up the Ohio and Cumberland to what is now Nash- 
ville. Here the two parties met. It had taken those that went 
by boat four months longer to make the journey than it had taken 
those who went through the wilderness. It will be seen that the 
river route was a very long and roundabout one, but it had its 
advantages. Eivers were Nature's highways for the early settlers. 

This fleet was under the charge of a Mr. Donelson. His daugh- 
ter afterward married Andrew Jackson, who became President of 
the United States. The largest boat was a scow-boat named the 
Adventure, which carried the baggage and about one-fifth of the 
people. It caused much trouble in passing the shoals and other 
dangerous places in the rivers. Then, too, the Cherokee Indians 
around Chattanooga were still fighting for England, and many 
of the party were killed by them. But when peace came, settlers 
also came in large numbers, and Tennessee was made a state in 
1796. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Locate the Watauga Eiver. Into what does it flow ? Into what 
does the Tennessee Eiver flow? Into what does the Ohio? Into 
what does the Mississippi? Trace Eobertson's route to Nashville. 
A company went in boats down the Tennessee and up the Ohio 
and Cumberland to Nashville; trace their route. Which of the 
two was the longer route? What advantage had the river route? 
Knoxville, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Pittsburg Landing, Fort 
Donelson and Nashville were scenes of great battles in the Civil 
War; locate each of these places. The Cherokee Indians went up 
some rivers from Georgia to attack the Watauga people; up what 



WESTWARD EXPLORATION 



205 




BEGINNINGS OF TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY 

rivers and in what direction did they go? Trace Boone's route 
to Boonesboro. How many states are represented on this map? 
Name them. What mountains separate North Carolina from 
Tennessee? Explain all the dates on this map. In what state is 
the Yadkin Eiver ? Give the full boundary line of Kentucky. Of 
Tennessee. 



EXEECISE ON BOONE, SEVIER AND ROBERTSON 

How do we know that Boone was in the Watauga Valley as 
early as 1760? Tell the story of Boone's big hunt in the Kentucky 
Valley. How did the Kentucky pioneers get over the Cumberland 
Mountains? Explain Boone's fort. Tell the story of Boone's 



20e JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

daughter. Who was John Sevier? Tell some things about the 
"Watauga Boys." King's Mountain. Tell about Dragging Canoe. 
About Kate Sherrill and Sevier. What do 3'ou know of the state 
of Franklin? Who Avas Eobertson? Was he anything more than 
a great hunter ? In what two places did he settle ? 

182. Expedition of Lewis and Clark. The year of 1783 will 
be remembered as the date of the treaty of Paris. By this treaty 
the Mississippi Eiver was made the western boimdary of the United 
States. 

At that time Thomas Jefferson was a private citizen. There 
came to him the idea of making explorations to the northwest, 
though it was then Spanish territory. The very year of the treaty 
(1783), he proposed a plan for exploring the upper waters of the 
Missouri. When he became President, he finished the plans for 
his exploring expedition up the Missouri. 

This was before the purchase of Louisiana. A few days before 
Captain Lewis started from Washington to go to St. Louis, the news 
came that our ministers at Paris had purchased all of Louisiana 
from tlie French Government. This was a surprise to the Presi- 
dent and to all the American people. ]^o one knew how far 
the Louisiana Purchase extended. The western line was marked 
by the sources of the rivers flowing into the Mississippi. But 
where were those sources? 

In 1793 Captain Gra}^ had sailed up a great river that poured 
its waters into the Pacific. This river he named the Columbia, in 
honor of his ovra ship. 

Three facts were then known : First, that the Columbia Eiver 
flows west into the Pacific; secondly, that the jMissouri flows east 
and south into the Mississippi; thirdly, that the Eocky Mountains 
divide the continent into two parts. These three facts made Jeffer- 
son believe that the sources of these rivers must be in the Eockies, 
and that they could not be very far apart. He felt that the Ameri- 



WESTWARD EXPLORATION g07 

can people would some day wish to reach the Pacific Coast. Per- 
haps these two rivers marked the natural path of commerce across 
the continent. 

California then belonged to Spain. To whom did the valley of 
the Columbia belong? Perhaps to the United States. 

Jefferson chose two young men to lead this expedition — Lewis, 
who was his private secretary, and Clark, who was the brother of 
George Eogers Clark, who captured Kaskaskia. 

Starting in the fall of 1803, they spent the winter on the Illi- 
nois side of the Mississippi near St. Louis. At this time St. Louis 
had not been surrendered to the United States Government. 

In the spring of 1804, Lewis and Clark, with thirty-two men, 
in a twenty-oar boat fifty feet long, began their journey on the 
muddy waters of the Missouri. It was slow work paddling this 
large boat against the swift current, loaded as it was with nien 
and provisions. 

A little above the Platte Eiver they stopped to hold a council 
with the Indians. The event is recorded in the name of the town 
which now stands there. Council Bluffs. This place is just across 
the river from Omaha. 

Late in October they reached a place near the present city of 
Bisniark, after having traveled about sixteen hundred miles on the 
Missouri. Here they went into camp for the winter months. 

The winter was spent in making ready to travel on. The men 
hunted and explored the country around. The Indians told them 
that after many days' journey toward the setting sun they would 
come to a deep, wide gorge. Down this the river dashed with a 
loud roar. 

In the spring of 1805 the party again set out on their last long 
pull up the Missouri. Their hunters kept them well supplied with 
aU kinds of wild game. 

183. The Great Falls. Before the close of May they caught 
sight of *a long line of snowy mountains. These were the outlines 



808 



JUNIOK HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 




CLARK'S ROUTE 



of the Eocky Mountain sys- 
tem. About the middle of 
June they reached the Great 
Falls of the Missouri. 

It took the party some 
time to carry the boat and 
baggage around these rap- 
ids. About one hundred 
and fifty miles above the 
Great Falls they found 
themselves in a deep gorge 
of the mountains nearly six 
miles long. Through it the 
river wound between walls 
of rock over a thousand feet 
high. To this canyon they 
gave the name "Gate to the 
Eocky Mountains." 

184. The Sources of 
the Missouri River. After 
passing this canyon, they 
came to a point in the 
mountains where a man 
could step across the stream. 
They were now at the very 
source of the Missouri, three 
thousand miles from the 
place where it joins the Mis- 
sissippi. 

The upper course of the 
river is divided into three 
branches, now known as 
the Jefferson, Gallatin and 
Madison. The voyagers 
passed up the Jefferson 
branch to its source. Then 



WESTWARD EXPLORATION 209 

they crossed the principal range of the Eocky Mountains into the 
valley of the Salmon, a branch of the Snake Eiver. Passing 
down these rivers they came to the big Columbia. 

Down this great western river they made their way, and in the 
late fall they reached the coast. At last they saw before them the 
broad expanse of the mighty Pacific, which Captain Lewis calls 
"the object of all our labors, the reward of all our anxieties." 

They found large numbers of Indians camped on the banks 
of the Columbia. Here Clark and Lewis spent the winter. In the 
spring of 1806 they started on their homeward journey, different 
parts of the company returning by different routes. They reached 
St. Louis in the fall, after an absence of over two years. 

This party of brave explorers had traveled over eight thousand 
miles, through a wild country quite unknown to white men. Their 
work had been hard and their sufferings many, but their wonderful 
courage and perseverance had opened to the people of the United 
States a vast tract of rich and fertile country, and showed a way 
through the mountains to the Pacific Coast. By their labors they 
had given us a real claim to the great Oregon Country. 

EXERCISE ON MAP 

Trace the route of Lewis and Clark and note the position 
of the Great Falls and the Gate of the Eocky Mountains. Name 
the rivers that flow into the Missouri from the south; from the 
north. Cross the mountains and follow the Salmon and the 
Snake rivers. Note the position of the little Walla Walla Eiver. 
You will hear about this in connection with Dr. Whitman's work. 
What great river comes from the north at this place? Trace it to 
its very source. Trace the boundary between Oregon and Washing- 
ton ; between Oregon and Idaho. Note the position of Yellowstone 
Park. This park is reserved by our government as a national 
park. Tell all you can about this wonderful place. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE WAR OF 1813 

185. Causes. During the time between 1812 and 1814 we 
had a second war with England. It is sometimes called the Second 
War for Independence. It came about in this way : 

England and France had been at war for many years. Napo- 
leon, Emperor of France, had conquered most of Europe, but Eng- 
land was still his worst enemy. The ocean was covered with the 
warships of these two nations. If American ships tried to trade 
with England, France did her best to seize them. If our ships 
traded with the French, then England seized them if she could. 
Between the two countries, America's commerce was nearly 
destroyed. Much property thus passed into the clutches of these 
two robbers. 

Napoleon acted more like a pirate than did England, but Eng- 
land was more insulting to American pride. Her men-of-war 
watched our seaports, and when our ships put to sea they would 
stop them, seize our sailors, and force them to fight on British men- 
of-war. This is known in history as the Impressment of American 
Seamen, and was the final cause of the war. 

Six thousand men were seized in this way, and nearly a thou- 
sand American merchant-ships were captured by the English. 
Doubtless many of the men were British subjects, but that gave 
England no right to search our ships on the high seas. This 
stopping and searching of ships is known as the "right of search," 

The war was not very successful for either England or Amer- 
ica. There was much trouble both on land and sea. The soldiers 

210 



THE WAR OF 1812 



311 




FRIGATE CONSTITUTION 



and sailors on both sides fought well ; but on the ocean the Ameri-- 
can sailors humbled the pride of England. 

186. Old Ironsides. The United States frigate Constitution, 
known best by her pet name, Old Ironsides, was built in Boston 
in 1797, and Paul Kevere had a part in her making. She is 
among the most famous warships of the world. Sailors knew her 
as "the Lucky Ship." What they called luck came because she 



213 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

was one of the fastest sailing and best built ships then afloat. 
During the second war with England she was manned by one of 
the best crews that ever fought. 

In the year 1833 the Secretary of the Navy was going to have 
this noble old vessel destroyed, as she was considered unseaworthy. 
Then it was that Dr. Holmes wrote the poem "Old Ironsides." So 
many people wished to have the good old ship kept that she was 
repaired and sent out on a cruise. Old Ironsides is still preserved, 
but sails the seas no more. 

OLD lEONSIDES 

At, teak her tattered ensign down ! 

Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 

That banner in the sky; 
Beneath it rung the battle shout, 

And burst the cannon's roar; 
The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more. 

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood. 

Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 

And waves were white below. 
No more shall feel the victor's tread, 

Or know the conquered knee — 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 

The eagle of the sea! 

O, better that her shattered hulk 

Should sink beneath the wave; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep. 

And there should be her grave; 
Nail to the mast her holy flag, 

Set every threadbare sail. 
And give her to the god of storms, 

The lightning and the gaJe! 
♦ —0. TV. Holmes. 



THE WAR OF 1812 213 

187. The Star-Spangled Banner. During the War of 1812 
the British soldiers and sailors captured Washington and burned 
the capitol. A few days later they attempted to capture Baltimore. 
Their first effort was to capture Fort McHenry, which defended 
the harbor of Baltimore. 

On board one of the British ships was Francis Scott Key, who 
had gone there under a flag of truce. He was kept on board the 
British ship until the next morning. As morning dawned Key 
could see our flag waving over the fort. The British were finally 
driven away. W^ile watching the battle Key wrote on the back 
of a letter what is now our 

STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? — 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, 
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming! 
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air. 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. 
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave I 

On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep. 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep. 
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, 
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; 
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 

A home and a country should leave us no more? 

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. 

No refuge could save the hireling and slave 

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave; 



214 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand 
Between their loved home and the war's desolation! 
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land 
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, 
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"; 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

— Francis S. Key. 

188. The Barbary States. The petty Barbary States of north- 
ern Africa, lying along the southern shore of the Mediterranean 
sea — Morocco, Algeria, Tunis and Tripoli — were in fact pirate 
states. They sent out ships of war to cruise on the Mediterranean 
in order to capture the merchant-ships of Christian nations. 

The common captives were sold into slavery. The more noted 
ones were held for ransom, sometimes at a great price. The ships 
and goods went to enrich the captors. 

To protect their commerce the European nations were in the 
habit of paying these pirate nations a certain sum of money every 




Azoae6 



MADEIRA 

c 



THE WAR OF 1812 215 

year. This was to buy off the robbers. At first the United States 
followed the example of Europe. But our people got weary and 
ashamed of paying tribute to these petty states. Our government 
then sent a few warships to the Mediterranean to protect our com- 
merce, and for a time they were successful. 

189. Stephen Decatur. But in 1803 the United States frigate 
Philadelphia, commanded by Captain Bainbridge, ran upon a reef 
in the harbor of Tripoli. This accident occurred while she was 
chasing one of the enemy's vessels. While she lay helpless on the 
reef she and her crew were captured by the Tripolitan ships. This 
was a great loss, as the Philadelphia was one of our best war- 
ships. The Tripolitans towed her into the harbor and anchored 
her directly under the guns of the forts. Here they supposed she 
was safe from recapture or destruction. 

Stephen Decatur, a young lieutenant of our nav}'', asked per- 
mission to go into the harbor and destroy the Philadelphia. This 
request was granted young Decatur, but he had undertaken a very 
dangerous task. The first danger was from the Philadelphia her- 
self : the enemy had repaired her, so her forty-four guns could be 
turned upon her own friends. The second was that she lay directly 
under the guns of the Tripolitan forts. The third was that the 
enemies' warships, great and small, surrounded the captive ship. 

Decatur cared for none of these dangers. Early one evening he 
sailed quietly into the harbor of Tripoli, in his little ship the In- 
trepid. Not until the Americans were within a few feet of the 
Philadelphia did the enemy realize their danger. Decatur and his 
men climbed up the sides of the captive ship and took possession. 
The order was given to set fire to her, as she could not be taken 
out of the harbor. In ten minutes she was ablaze. 

Decatur and his men escaped to the Intrepid amid the rapid 
fire of one hundred and forty guns from the forts, and not an 
American was hurt. Nelson, the great British admiral, said this 
was the most daring act of the age. 



216 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



"We next hear of Decatur as captain of the American frigate 
United States, in the War of 1812. Off the coast of the Madeira 
Island the United States met the British frigate Macedonian. 
After two hours of fighting the Macedonian surrendered to De- 
catur, who brought his prize across the Atlantic into Newport 
Harbor. 

190. Barbary States Hnmbled. Decatur was made commo- 
dore of an American fleet which was sent against Algiers in the 
summer of 1815. 

About the time the War of 1812 broke out the Dey of Algiers 
took offense because he had not received the "present" which he 
expected from the United States. For this reason he declared war 

against us. He cap- 
tured one of our ves- 
sels and made her 
crew slaves. During 
our war with Eng- 
land our ships had 
all they could attend 
to, but as soon as 
peace was declared a 
small squadron un- 
der Decatur was 
sent against the Dey 
of Algiers. 

Soon after pass- 
ing through the 
Strait of Gibraltar 
Decatur captured a 
large Algerian frig- 
ate. A smaller war- 
l^''^^ ship also fell into the 

STEPHEN DECATUR hands of Decatur. 




THE WAR OF 1812 



217 



He now appeared off the coast of Algeria, and the Dey was soon 
ready to make peace without a "present." He agreed to four 
things : First, to give up all American prisoners in his possession ; 
secondly, to claim no more tribute from America; thirdly, to pay 
for all the damage he had done to our commerce; fourthly, not to 
make slaves of the prisoners he took in war. 

Decatur next went to Tunis and Tripoli. He compelled the 
rulers of these two countries to pay for all the injuries done Ameri- 
can vessels by the English while in their harbors during the War 
of 1812. In this war England had but little regard for the rights 
of smaller nations. When some of our vessels took refuge in the 
harbors of Tunis and Tripoli, her men-of-war entered these ports 
and seized our ships under the very guns of their forts. 

In 1816 England and Holland compelled Algiers to cease her 
piracy. In 1830 France conquered Algiers and put an end to her 
as a pirate nation. 

After the French had taken possession of the Algerian cities 
they found in a building a pile of gold and silver coin, thrown in 
carelessly, as one might shovel wheat into a bin. Coins from all 
nations, some two and three hundred years old, were found in this 
heap, amounting in value to more than $10,000,000. This shows 
that Algiers had been playing the pirate for at least three hundred 
years. 



CHAPTEE XVI 



INVENTIONS 



191. The Cotton-Gin is a machine for separating the seed of 
the cotton plant from the cotton fiber. Before the invention of 
this machine the work was done by hand. 

Place a small quantity of cotton from which the seeds have 
not been taken, on an ordinary coarse comb. With a sharp- 
pointed instrument 
pull the cotton fiber 
between the comb- 
teeth. It will be 
seen that the cot- 
ton-seeds do not 
pass through with 
the fiber. By this 
process we really 
comb out the seed 
from the cotton. 

This comb can- 
not be called a cot- 
ton-gin, of course, but it shows the way in which the cotton-gin does 
its work. 

Eli "Whitney, a New England schoolmaster, invented the cotton- 
gin in 1793. 

Look at the picture on this page. It shows the principle of 
Whitney's cotton-gin. U-G is un-ginned cotton; that is. cotton 
which has not had the seeds taken out. C-S shows the cotton 

21S 




INVENTIONS 



219 



seeds; C-P is cotton 
fiber. The sawlike disks, 
turning as the arrow 
points, pull the fiber be- 
tween bars A-A. The 
seeds, being left, fall 
down to C-S. B shows 
rapidly whirling brushes 
which, moving with the 
arrow, clear the saw- 
teeth of fiber. 

The cotton-gin is a 
simple machine, but its 
use caused great changes 
in the United States and 
in other parts of the 
world. First, it made 
cotton very cheap. One 
man with the machine 
can do the work of fifty 
working by hand. 

The second result was 
its effect on negro slavery 
in America. The culti- 
vation of cotton became 
very profitable in the 
Southern States, and 
many laborers were need- 
ed to work in the cotton fields. For this reason the people of the 
South were not willing to give up their slaves. In the meantime 
the people of the North grew more and more hostile to slavery. 
The final result was our great Civil War. 

A few years ago a process was discovered by which the oil 




COTTON PLANT 



220 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



of the cotton-seed is extracted. This cotton-seed oil is valuable, 
and adds much to the profits of cotton-raising. 

192. The Steam-Engine. The French and Indian "War had 
closed. Washington and his bride were living at Mount Vernon. 
The Kevolutionary War was yet in the future. 

England and her colonies were quarreling about taxes. Frank- 
lin was in England acting as agent for some of the colonies. 




FULTON'S FIRST INVENTION 



Patrick Henry had made his famous speech against the Stamp Act. 
Jefferson was a young law^-er, still unmarried. 

James Watt, a Scotchman, was making the modem steam- 
engine possible. This was from 1761 to 1769. 

Before Watt's inventions steam had been used to pump water 
from mines and to do other work, but the machines used were 
crude and very wasteful of steam and fuel. 

Watt invented many necessary parts of the steam-engine. But 



INVENTIONS 



231 



his most difficult problem was to make steam do what one does 
when he turns a crank — that is, to cause wheels to turn on their 
axes. In this way all forms of machinery may be driven by 
steam-power. Simple as these inventions and improvements seem 
to us, they made the modern steam-engine possible. 

193. The Steamboat. Watt's successful steam-engine soon 
led inventors to seek its use in moving boats on the water and 



^//^V 




FiULTON'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL STEAMBOAT 



wagons on land. But it took nearly forty years to construct the 
first successful steamboat, and sixty to make the first crude railway 
locomotive. 

While Washington was yet President John Fitch succeeded in 
making a steamboat. His plan was to move his boat by means of 
oars which were driven by steam. He was able to carry passengers 
on the Delaware River, but for some reason people did not care to 
travel on his boat, so we hear no more about it. 



222 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Eobert Fulton built the first successful steamboat, and named 
it the Clermont. This boat made its first trip up the Hudson 
Eiver from New York to Albany in 1807. 

Fulton's plan was to place paddle wheels on each side of the 
boat in such a position that the paddles which were down were 
under water. When the steam-engine turned the paddle wheels 
the boat was pushed, or propelled, forward. 

So successful was Fulton's plan that for sixty years or more 
all great steamships were propelled by paddle wheels. These boats 
were known as "side-wheelers." 

During the same year (1807y John Stevens built the Phoenix, 
which seems to have been as successful as Fulton's Clermont. 

Jolm Ericsson, a Swede who came to America in 1839, in- 
vented the screw propeller. The propeller is placed under the 
water at the stern of the boat, and as it turns in the water it 
pushes the boat forward. 

Nowadays all the great steamers and warships use the screw 
propeller; the great "side-wheelers" are now but little used. 

In 1811 the first steamboat passed down the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. 

In 1818 the first steamboat, Walk-in-the-Water, sailed on the 
Great Lakes. 

The next year the Savannah crossed the Atlantic Ocean. At 
first it had been supposed that no ship could carry enough coal to 
drive it across a great ocean. 

194. Railroads. The two parts necessary to a railroad as we 
know it are the track and the locomotive. 

The track in the form of wooden rails came into use before 
the locomotive. These tracks were short horse tramways. They 
were used around coal mines and stone quarries where heavy loads 
were drawn by horses. 

To make the wheels roll more easily a strip of iron was at first 
nailed on top of the wooden rails. This worked well for a time, 



INVENTIONS 



333 



but when locomotives came into use and the cars were drawn more 
swiftly these iron strips became dangerous. Sometimes they would 
break and fly up into the cars. 

Next, rails were made all of iron. But these, too, were danger- 
ous, for they were made of cast iron and were apt to break. 

The last and best rail made is the steel rail which is now in 
use. 

George Stephenson, an Englishman, was the inventor of the 
locomotive. He worked at the invention for several years. At first 



4'ii^'^ 




AN OLD-TIME LOCOMOTIVE 



he had trouble in making the fire burn because he could not get 
draft enough through his short smokestack, and a tall smokestack 
could not be used on a moving locomotive. This difficulty was over- 
come by passing the escaping steam with the smoke through the 
smokestack. All locomotives still do that. It is the escaping 
steam that causes the puffing sound we hear. This draft causes 
the fire to burn so well that our great, powerful locomotives are 
possible. 



224 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

We may take 1830 as the beginning of the railroad era. Now 
anyone who has the money, health and time may ride over conti- 
nents in drawing-room cars, and across oceans in palace steamers. 
Inventions and wealth have made traveling a luxury. 

195. The Telegraph. Samuel F. B. Morse was the inventor 
of the electric telegraph. 

His plan was to write by means of electricity. But he could not 
write real letters; he could only make dots and dashes.* So he 
invented an alphabet of dots and dashes. For the letter A he made 
a dot and a dash (. — ) ; for C three dots (...); for T a dash ( — ). 
He thus represented all the letters of the alphabet by combining 
dots and dashes. He would spell the name of our friend of the 
fireside thus: . . . . — • — 

This alphabet is known as the Morse code, and is still used 
everywhere in telegraphing. 

At first these dots and dashes were made on long, narrow strips 
of paper. But in a little while the telegraph operators learned 
to read these letters by the clicking sound of the telegraph keys. 
For this reason the paper slips are no longer used. 

196. Samuel F. B. Morse was born in Massachusetts in the 
year 1791. Young Morse was sent to England to study art, and 
became a portrait painter of some skill; but his fame was to come 
from another sort of work. 

While crossing the Atlantic on his return from Europe, Morse 
heard some people on the ship talking about an experiment which 
had been tried in Paris. Electricity had been made to pass through 
a very long wire, stretching many times around a large room. 

We remember the story of Dr. Franklin and his kite. He found 

♦Morse's Alphabet : 

A -— H O - - V 

B . I - P W 

C J Q X 

D K R - -- Y 

E - L S --- Z 

p M T — & - --- 

G — - - N — - U 




TELEGRAPHIC KEY 



INVENTIONS 225 

that the electricit)'' of the clouds came down the wet tow string. 
But scientific people had not A^et learned how far an electric cur- 
rent would follow a wire or other good conductors. Perhaps they 
had not thought much about it. But the accoui^t of the Paris ex- 
periment set Morse to thinking. He said: "If electricity will 
travel ten miles on wire, I can make it go around the world.'* 

From this time 
he thought a great 
deal about sending 
messages through 
wire by means of 
electricity. As early 
as 1835 he had 
made a crude tele- 
graphic instru- 
ment ; but it was not until 1844 that the first telegraph line was 
completed. In the meantime he was working to perfect his in- 
vention. 

During these years of experimenting he knew what it was to 
be hungry and poorly clad because he had no money. 

One day, while he was explaining his machine to some gen- 
tlemen, a young man named Alfred Vail happened to come into 
the room. Young Vail was quick to see the idea of the invention, 
and the great change it would make in the world if it were to suc- 
ceed. With the aid of his father. Judge Vail, he proposed to go 
into partnership with Morse, and to furnish the money necessary 
to complete the invention. 

Morse was very glad to accept the offer. Young Vail was quite 
ingenious, and was very helpful in perfecting the telegraph. He 
first thought of the dot and dash code which Morse made into an 
alphabet. Success came only after a struggle, but the young 
men would not be discouraged. 

With aid from Congress the first telegraph was completed be- 



226 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



tween Washington and Baltimore in 1844. The first message sent 
was this : 



W 



a t 



a t 



G 



w 



"What hath God wrought !" 

It was Morse's first plan to string the wire in a tube under 
the ground. But he found this would not work, as the electricity 

was led off into the 
ground and lost. He 
next planned to string 
the wires on poles, as is 
now done. 

197. The Telephone. 
For several years scien- 
tists had in mind the 
possibility of people talk- 
ing to one another at a 
distance by means of 
wires helped by electric- 
ity. In 1877 Alexander 
Bell put up a telephone 
line from Boston to Sa- 
lem, sixteen miles away, 
and soon another line 
was put into use between 
Chicago and Milwaukee, a distance of over eighty miles. 

To-day every business house and many thousands of private 
homes have their own telephone, and every day men in New York 
talk with men in Chicago, almost a thousand miles away. It has 
been said that the wire now in use for the telephones in the United 
States alone would reach around the globe eighty times. 




PROFESSOR MORSE 



INVENTIONS 227 

198. Electric Cars. Horse-cars came into general use a little 
later than did the electric telegraph. Still later — only a few years 
ago — the dynamo and the motor took the place of the horse, and 
we now have the electric railway. 

Electric railways have had a much quicker development than 
steam railways had-; but the time of their development has been 
longer than many people suppose. As long ago as 1864 a French 
engineer proposed this use of electricity as a motor power. In 1879 
a model electric railway was operated at an exposition in Berlin, 
Germany. A vast amount of money and patient labor has been 
expended to make possible this mode of traveling. 

In many places the electric motor is used instead of the steam 
locomotive on ordinary railroad tracks. Perhaps in time the loco- 
motive engine may disappear and the motor alone be used to 
draw our long trains of cars. 

The latest development of locomotion by steam and electricity 
is the automobile; this horseless carriage is becoming so common 
now, especially in our large cities, that its novelty has almost worn 
off. The first steam road carriage was made much longer ago than 
most people think, for it was built in 1680 in England. "Loco- 
mobile" is not a new word. But it was only after much work and 
thought that a vehicle sufficiently light to be practical was built. 

199. The National Hymn was written in 1832 by S. F. Smith, 
D. D., of Massachusetts. Of course every American boy and girl 
knows the words of 

AMERICA 

My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of Liberty! — 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
From every mountain side 

Let Freedom ring! 



228 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

My native country! thee, — 
Land of the noble free, — 

Thy name I love; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills; 
My heart vdth rapture thrills 

Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze, 
And ring from all the trees 

Sweet Freedom's song; 
Let mortal tongues awake; 
Let all that breathe partake; 
Let rocks their silence break, 

The sound prolong. 

Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of Liberty, 

To Thee we sing; 
Long may our land be bright 
"With Freedom's holy light; 
Protect us by Thy might, 

Great God, our King! 



—S. F. Smith. 



CHAPTEE XVII 



TERRITORIAL GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 



200. War with Mexico. During two years, 1846 and 1847, 
there was war between the United States and Mexico. The quarrel 
was over the boundary line between Texas and Mexico. 

General Winfield 
Scott and General 
Zachary Taylor, who 
was known as "Old 
Kough and Eeady," 
were the leading 
American generals. 
General Santa Anna 
was President o f 
Mexico and the com- 
mander of her arm- 
ies. 

Many battles were 
fought and all were 
won by the Ameri- 
cans, 

The battle of 
B u e n a Vista was 
fought on February 
21, 1847, General Taylor commanded the Americans. It was a 
severe battle, as there were four Mexicans to every American, 

229 



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MAP 1 



230 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



A poem, "The Bivouac of the Dead," was written by Theodore 
O'Hara in memory of those who fell in this battle. 

After the capture of the City of Mexico by General Scott, peace 
was made between the two nations. 

201. The Colonies. The black portion of Map 1 represents the 
territory settled by the English colonists in North America. These 



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MAP 2 

colonies were New England, New York, Now Jersey, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. 

At first the settlements were near the Atlantic Coast, but grad- 
ually the settlers moved farther and farther westward. The Alle- 
ghany Mountains were the first great difficulty in the way of this 
westward movement. These mountains blocked the way for nearly 
a hundred years; but in due time the hardy settlers and hunters 
found their way over the mountains. 



TEERITOEIAL GROWTH 231 

202. Conflicting Claims. Map 2 shows the territorial claims 
to North America about the year 1700. In the North, England 
claimed all the land drained by the rivers flowing into Hudson's 
Bay. You remember that Hudson, an Englishman, was sailing 
under the British flag when he discovered Hudson's Bay. This was 
the reason England claimed it. 

France claimed the same country because Champlain and 
other Frenchmen also had explored a part of this country. The 
dark part of the map, marked "New France," shows the claims 
of France. 

The French explorations, the Jesuit mission stations, the fur- 
trading posts and a few settlements around the Great Lakes, gave 
France a claim to that section. About the time that Jamestown, 
New Amsterdam (New York) and New England were settled, the 
French settled at Quebec and ]\Iontreal. So that gave the French 
a claim to the St. Lawrence Valley. 

We remember the story of Marquette and Joliet, and that of 
La Salle and his companions. What they did gave the French a 
claim to all of the Mississippi Valley. 

It was a rule among nations that when one of them discovered 
a great river, or a large lake, or an ocean, that one owned all the 
country which was drained by the body of water. This will explain 
why there were so many disputes as to who owned the different 
sections of the country which is now known as the United States 
of America. 

The country to the northwest (on the map, the white section 
marked "Unexplored") is known in history as the Oregon Country. 
It is drained by the Columbia Eiver. Until 1846 this country 
was in dispute among the nations. 

For a long time all the southern part of North America was 
known as Florida. This, with most of South America and all of 
the West Indies, was rightly claimed by Columbus, Ponce de Leon, 
Balboa and others sailing under the Spanish flag. 



233 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



203. Eesult of ftueen Anne's War. Map 3 represents the 
country as it was divided between England and France by the 
treaty of Utrecht in 1713. These two countries had been fighting 
each other in two wars known as King William's War and Queen 
Anne's War. The quarrel was about matters in Europe, but as a 
result of the second war some changes of territory in America 
were made. (Compare Maps 2 and 3.) 




MAP 3 

The white parts of Map 3 show English possessions from 
1713 to 1763— that is, for just fifty years. 

The Spanish possessions remained the same until 1763, at 
which time great changes occurred. 

By the treaty of Utrecht Acadia, now Nova Scotia, passed from 
the possession of France to the possession of England. Nova 
Scotia still remains a part of the British Empire. France gave 
up all claims to the Hudson Bay country. 



TEERITORIAL GROWTH 



233 



The forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, extending westward 
from the Lake of the Woods, was made the boundary line be- 
tween the French and English possessions to the north and west. 
This is still the boundary between the United States and Canada. 

204. Result of French and Indian War. Map 4 shows the 
conditions at the close of the French and Indian War. Note care- 
fully the changes as 
shown in comparing 
Map 4 with Map 3. 
New France has 
vanished. This 
means that France, 
as a result of this 
war, lost all of 
her American pos- 
sessions. Everything 
east of the Mississip- 
pi Eiver and north 
of the Great Lakes, 
including Florida, 
now belonged t o 
England. All west 
of the Mississippi 
Eiver, except the 
Oregon Country, 
had become a part 
of the Spanish pos- 
sessions. The Oregon Country was unsettled and had not yet 
entered into dispute. These boundaries were made by what we 
will call the first Treaty of Paris. The boundaries laid out by this 
first treaty of Paris continued for twenty years, from 1763 to 1783. 

205. Result of the War of the Revolution. Map 5 shows the 
conditions after the American Kevolution. On this map we find 




MAP 4 



234 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



for the first time the words 'TJnited States." A new nation had 
been born. 

The American Colonies declared themselves independent of 
England. The Declaration of Independence was passed July 4, 

1776, but it required 
a long war to make 
the Declaration good. 
At the close of this 
war England, 
France, Spain and 
the United States 
signed what we call 
the second treaty of 
Paris, in 1783. 

The Mississippi 
Eiver was made the 
w e s t ern boundary 
and the Great Lakes 
the northern bound- 
ary of the United 
States. Florida was 
given back to Spain. 
England still had 
possession of Canada. 
Spain continued to hold all the country lying between the Mis- 
sissippi River and Pacific Ocean. 

206. Trouble with Spain. It will be noticed that Spain now 
had possession of the lower part of the Mississippi Eiver. She 
claimed even more than is represented on the map. She said that 
Florida extended to an east and west line that now passes through 
Vicksburg. This would give her the southern half of what is now 
Alabama and Mississippi. Finally Spain yielded and made the 
boundary line as represented on the map. 




MAP 5 



TEERITORIAL GROWTH 



235 



But Spain kept possession of the mouth of the Mississippi. 
This the western Americans did not like. The Spanish settlers at 
New Orleans acted very unwisely when the Americans sent flat- 
boats loaded with wheat, corn, oats and many other products of 
the western prairies down the river. They did all they could 
to annoy the American merchants and shippers. This trouble 



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MAP 6 

might have led to war, but matters took a turn so that the Ameri- 
cans got much more than they expected. 

207. Louisiana Purchase. In 1800 France, by treaty with 
Spain, got possession of the western half of the Mississippi Valley. 
This included all the country drained by the rivers flowing eastward 
into the Mississippi; it extended north to the British line. All 
this country was then known as "Louisiana." 

Map 6 shows the conditions that existed from 1800 to 1803. 
East Florida was yet a part of Spain. A small part of Louisiana 



236 



JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 




MAP 7 



extended east of the Mississippi, and France had control of the 
mouth of the river. 

President Jefferson now sent ambassadors to France. They 
were to buy that part of Louisiana which lay near the mouth of the 
Mississippi, When they asked Napoleon to sell this he said he 
would sell all of Louisiana to the United States, So the whole 
of Louisiana was bought from France for $15,000,000, 

The purchase of Louisiana was one of the great events in the 
history of the United States. It took place in 1803, During the 
summer and fall of 1904 the great Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 
tion was held at St. Louis to commemorate this event, 

208, The Florida Purchase. Map 7 shows the conditions from 
1803 to 1819, It will be noticed that France had again disap- 
peared from North America ; that Florida was still a part of Spain ; 
that Spain held possession of a great country to the southwest. 
(On the map are shown the states later made of Louisiana,) 



TEREITORIAL GROWTH 



337 



In the year 1819 the United States purchased East Florida from 
Spain for $5,000,000. This made the United States extend to the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

The treaty with Spain also settled the boundary line between 
the Louisiana Purchase and the Spanish possessions to the south- 
west. This boundary line is fairly represented on Map 7. The 
upper half of the line marks the general direction of the Kocky 
Mountains. The Oregon Country was not a part of Louisiana. 

209. Texas, by this treaty, was left in the possession of Spain, 
though some Americans believed that the Louisiana Purchase in- 
cluded Texas, or most of it. 

Shortly after the purchase of Florida Mexico gained her inde- 
pendence from Spain. That left Texas as a part of the new re- 
public of Mexico, 

Texas was settled principally by Americans, and for that reason 




MAP 8 



338 



JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 




MAP 9 



the Texans did not like to be under the Mexican Government. 
The result was that under the leadership of General Sam Houston 
they won their independence from Mexico, and set up a republican 
government. They chose General Houston for governor. 

The Texas flag had on it but one star, and for that reason the 
state is still known as the "Lone Star State." 

As soon as Texas was freed from Mexican rule she asked to be 
made a part of the United States, but many people in our country 
were unwilling to have her annexed. She stood alone for ten years, 
from 1835 to 1845, and then she was admitted to our Union. 

Map 8 represents the United States after the annexation of 
Texas. 

210. The Oregon Country. For a long time, a hundred years 
or more, both Spain and England claimed the country along the 
Pacific Coast, north of Mexico. Spain claimed it because of the 



TERRITORIAL GROWTH 



239 



discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa, and for other reasons. 
England claimed it because Sir Francis Drake, in his famous trip 
aroimd the world, sailed northward along this coast. Captain 
James Cook, another great English sailor, also explored this coast. 




MAP 10 

Drake's trip was made about the year 1579. Captain Cook's was 
almost exactly two hundred years later, in 1778. 

But there came a time when the United States also laid claim 
to the northern part of this country. 

In the year 1792 Captain Gray, an American, sailed into the 
mouth of a great river which he called Columbia in honor of his 
ship. The existence of the river had been known before this 
event, but no ship had before sailed on its waters. 

In the treaty made with Spain in 1819 she ceded to the United 
States all the country "to the east and north" of the Louisiana 
boundary line. This gave to the Americans all the Spanish claims 



340 



JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 



to this country. Then, too, the Americans had made a settlement 
on the Columbia River, at Astoria. 

For twenty-eight years the Oregon Country was, by agreement 
between the United States and England, occupied by hunters and 
trappers from both countries. Finally, in 1846, a treaty between 
the two countries made the forty-ninth parallel of latitude the 
boundary. This line cut the Oregon Country into two nearly 




MAP 11 

equal parts, the British taking the northern part and the United 
States the southern portion. 

Map 9 shows the result of this plan. 

211. The Mexican War After Texas joined our Union a 
dispute arose between that state and Mexico. They did not agree 
as to where the boundary line was between them. The Texans 
claimed that the Eio Grande was their western boundary. Mexico 
set the line farther east. American troops were sent to occupy the 



TERRITOEIAL GROWTH 241 

disputed territory. The Mexicans attacked them, and the United 
States declared war in 1846. 

Early in 1848 a treaty of peace was signed between the United 
States and Mexico. By this treaty the United States obtained all 
the country which now includes California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona 
and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. 

The results of this treaty are shown on Map 10. 

In 1853 the United States bought another strip of country 
known as the Gadsden Purchase. This is shown on Map 11. 

This map represents the present boundaries of the United 
States proper. Other additions have since been made, but they 
lie outside of these limits. 

EXERCISE ON TEEEITOEIAL HISTORY 

Compare Map 3 with Map 2 ; what changes do you find ? These 
changes came about as the result of what war? Compare Map 4 
with Map 3; what marked change do you see? What nation has 
disappeared from America? This was the result of what war? 
Compare Map 5 with Map 4; what changes do you see? To 
whom does Florida belong as shown on Map 4? By Map 5? On 
Map 4 who owns the country between the Mississippi Eiver and 
Atlantic Ocean? On Map 5? Who owns Canada as shown by 
Maps 4 and 5? The change as shown by Maps 4 and 5 was the 
result of what war? What one great change do Maps 5 and 6 
show ? What was the cause of this change ? What one great change 
do Maps 6 and 7 show ? What was the cause of this change ? What 
occurred in 1904 to commemorate this event? In comparing Map 

8 with Map 7, another change appears; say what you can of this 
change. Also note the change as shown on Map 8 and 9; what 
was the cause of this change ? Note the change as shown by Maps 

9 and 10 ; what brought about this change ? 



CHAPTER XVIII 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



212. The Lincolns in Kentucky. Every boy and girl should 
know about honest, brave, true-hearted Abraham Lincoln, who 
was President of the United States during our 
great Civil War. His life was a life of struggle from 
the beginning. But poverty and hard work could 
not keep him down. He rose by the strength of 
his right arm, his stu- 
dious habits and his 
manly character. 

Abraham Lincoln 
was the son of Thomas 
Lincoln. In 1782 Abra- 
ham Lincoln, the grand- 
father of the President, 
moved with his family 
from Virginia into Ken- 
tucky. 

The Lincolns were 
hardy, fearless men. 
They knew how to find 
food and shelter in the 
dense forests of the new- 
ly-opened country. They 
could endure fatigue and 

SPINNING-WHEEL USED BY EARLY ^_ t ^^^^ •„ 

SETTLERS cxposurc, and were m 

242 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



243 



every way fitted to become brave, successful pioneers. They fol- 
lowed the trail of Daniel Boone about two years after that famous 
explorer had spent a long and lonely year in the mighty wilder- 
ness. 

These early settlers knew what hardships were. Their prin- 
cipal food was wild game, fish and roughly-ground cornmeal. Wild 
berries and herb teas helped to make a variety. Their food was 
cooked in rude vessels or roasted over fires built out of doors. 
Their winter clothes 
were made from the 
skins of wild animals 
which they had 
trapped. Their sum- 
mer clothing was of 
linen or cotton goods 
which they had spun 
and woven themselves. 

Their houses were 
made of rough, round 
logs, put together 

with wooden pegs. These log cabins were but slight protection 
from the winter's cold. Rain and snow could easily find a way 
through the crevices, and it was often so cold that people wore 
their homemade water-soaked shoes all night to keep the leather 
from freezing stiff. 

The grandfather of President Lincoln is named in the surveys 
made by Daniel Boone as having bought five hundred acres of 
land in Kentucky. Here the new-comers built them a cabin and 
began to open up a farm. 

One day, while plowing in a field, the elder Abraham Lin- 
coln was shot and killed by an Indian. The Indian then tried to 
carry off the youngest son, Thomas. Two elder brothers, who 
were near by, heard the shot. One of them ran to the cabin, seized 




l7iJ.^u ■■■■■"■■■%,^..^.. ,*»..;'."'"" 

LINCOLN'S BIRTHPixA.CB 



244 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

his father's loaded rifle and sticking it through a crack between the 
logs, shot and killed the Indian, just as he was carrying Thomas 
toward the forest. The other brother ran to the fort for aid 
and came back with some of the settlers, who brought the body 
of the father into the house. 

The trusty rifle, the long, keen knife and the faithful dog 
were the constant companions of our pioneers while at work. The 
ax not only cut paths through the forest but cleared their fields 
for grain and prepared the timber of which they built their houses. 
Little boys of those times learned to wield the ax and use the 
rifle. 

213. Abraham Lincoln's Parents. As time passed the forests 
were cleared, new farms were opened, new cabins were built and 
new families grew up. 

Thomas Lincoln knew something of the carpenter's trade. In 
1806 he was married to Nancy Hanks, a young woman of English 
ancestry. Like the Lincolns, her family had come to Kentucky 
from Virginia. She had known Thomas when he was learning the 
carpenter's trade in the shop of her uncle, Joseph Hanks. 

Nancy Hanks was a good woman and she had a good mind. 
She was gentle, pious and refined. She taught her husband as well 
as her children to read and write, an accomplishment which many 
of that day could not claim. 

214. Lincoln's Home. Before his marriage Thomas Lincoln 
had built a little cabin for his bride, in Hardin County, Kentucky, 
The cabin was only fourteen feet square. A few tin dishes, wooden 
plates and a bucket, a frying-pan and a Dutch oven were considered 
a sufficient outfit for a newly-wedded couple in pioneer days. 
Plain dress and plain fare were the fashion. 

Into such a humble home three children came — Sarah, Abra- 
ham and Thomas. As the father had not been able to earn 
enough by his trade to support a family, he had bought a 
small farm, which had little to recommend its purchase except its 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN 



245 



cheapness. Here he settled into poverty deeper than any his 
father had known, and here in 1809 his now famous son, Abraham, 
was born. 

215. His Education. As schools were few and far between 
and poor when found, Mrs. Lincoln was not only house-wife 
and mother but also teacher. As churches were still more scarce, 
she not only taught her children the alphabet but also the word of 
God. She earnestly tried to impress upon their minds and hearts 
religious truths, and the Bible was her text-book. These stories 
took such a firm hold upon the mind of her son Abraham, that 
in after years he made frequent use of them in his public 
speeches. 

Dilworth's spelling-book was the companion of the Bible, and 
by the use of these Abraham learned to read at an early age; in- 
deed, he said afterward that he could scarcely remember the time 
when he could not read. 

The long winter evenings were shortened by tales of the famous 
hunter and the hunter's famous paradise. The long tramps through 
the wilderness among the savages and wild animals were lived over 
again. Thomas Lincoln used to tell how his father was shot down 
before his eyes, and many other thrilling tales, while little Abraham 
listened, his eyes wide open with wonder. 

216. The Move to Indiana. Thomas Lincoln was dissatisfied 
with his stony little farm, and he made up his mind to try his for- 
tune in the new state of Indiana. 

Near Gentryville, in 1816, he again unloaded his household 
goods, after a weary journey of seven days. Here he built what was 
called a '^lalf-faced camp,'' which was a shed of poles, enclosed 
on three sides, and with one side open to the heat of summer and 
the cold of winter. 

History tells us that the family lived in this miserable hut 
for a whole year, while the father was clearing a little patch of 
ground and preparing timber for a better house. 



346 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Deer and other wild game supplied the table until their little 
crop was harvested. 

The new house was not much more comfortable than the hut. 
Three-legged stools answered for chairs. Bedsteads were made of 
poles stuck between the logs in the corners of the room and held 
up by crotched sticks driven into the ground. The table was a 
hewed log made to stand on four rough legs. 

Over the one room, which was made to do the service of three 
or four, was a loft. This was used as a sleeping-place, and was 
reached by a ladder of wooden pegs driven into the side wall. 

There was certainly plenty of fresh air in the house, but it can- 
not be said that the life these people led was strictly healthy. 

217. Death of Lincoln's Mother. The exposure and hard 
work, together with the malaria of the rank woods, brought on 
much sickness among the settlers, and many died. 

Among the number was Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of 
Abraham. 

This was a sad beginning of a dreary winter for Thomas Lin- 
coln and his two motherless children. He himself made his wife's 
coffin, "out of green lumber cut with a whip-saw." She was buried 
in a little clearing in the forest, in sight of her own home. 

Over this lonely grave a sympathetic friend has placed a stone 
with this inscription : 

Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of President Lincoln, died October 5, 
1818, aged thirty-five years. Erected by a friend of her martyred son, 1879. 

Abraham could not bear the thought that his dear mother, who 
had loved God's Book, had been laid to rest with no words 
from its sacred pages. He thought of a traveling preacher named 
David Elkins, and to him he wrote, asking him to come and 
preach his mother's funeral sermon. This the preacher promised 
to do as soon as he could. 

A few months later Parson Elkins took his stand at the foot 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 247 

of the grave covered with the early snow of winter, and preached 
to about two hundred of the friends and neighbors, who sat around 
on logs and stumps. 

218. Lincoln's Stepmother. A little more than a year after 
the death of Abraham's mother, Thomas Lincoln married again. 
The new wife was a hard-working, energetic, Christian woman. 
She had three children of her own, but she was very good and 
kind to the little Lincolns. 

With the new mother came cheer and comfort, for she brought 
not only her kind self but something in the way of furniture for 
the barren, gloomy home. We may be sure that the motherless 
children of Thomas Lincoln looked with curious interest at the 
real chairs and fine bureau which the new mother brought, and 
that they slept in greater comfort in one of her soft, warm feather 
beds. 

She was a wise and thoughtful mother, and little Abraham 
loved her dearly. Many years after this she said: "Abe never 
gave me a cross word or look, and never refused in fact or ap- 
pearance to do anything I asked him. His mind and mine (what 
little I had) seemed to run together. I had a son, John, who 
was raised with Abe. Both were good boys, but I must say, both 
now being dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw or expect 
to see." 

219. Lincoln as a Student. All the schooling that Abraham 
was able to get in Kentucky and Indiana covered but little more 
than a year's time. 

The new mother noticed this love of reading and gladly gave 
him all the help she could. He soon became kno\^Ti as the best 
speller in school and was much interested in the study of arith- 
metic. A burnt stick was his pencil and a wooden shovel his 
slate. 

He read everything he could lay his hands on. "Pilgrim's 
Progress," "Eobinson Crusoe," "Aesop's Fables," Weem's "Life of 



248 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



Washington" and the Bible became a part of him, so often did he 
read them and think over their teachings. 

So great was his thirst for knowledge that he would sit in the 
twilight and read the dictionary as long as he could see. He 
read the "Eevised Statutes of Indiana" with as great eagerness 

as our boys read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or 
"Tom Brown." From his repeated read- 
ings of these few books when his mind 
was easily impressed, came, perhaps, the 
habit Mr. Lincoln had in later years of 
saying, "That reminds me of a story." 

Perhaps his most helpful teacher was 
Andrew Crawford, who added "manners 
and elocution" to the list of studies 
usually taught in those days. 
Abraham enjoyed speaking 
pieces, and often made little 
speeches of his own to his 
friends when they would lis- 
ten. He learned much by 
hearing others speak and he 
once walked fifteen miles to hear John Breckenridge defend a man 
accused of murder. He was so well pleased with the masterly 
defense that he considered himself well paid for his time and 
trouble. 

220. As a Young Man. Abraham was witty and loved to 
make people laugh. He was always ready to take part in the 
rough fun of the times, though he was never willing to do a mean 
or underhanded trick. Young men of that day engaged in 
wrestling, wolf-hunting, log-rolling, horse-racing and other sports 
of the same kind. 

As Abraham grew to manhood the dress of the people changed 
from tanned deer-skin of earlier days to garments of wool and 




LINCOLN SPLITTING RAILS 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN 



349 



tow. These were dyed brown with the juice of the butternut or 
the walnut. 

With all the rudeness of the surroundings, and in spite of the 
queer clothes and awkward manners, there were beneath the sur- 
face of these hardy people kindliness of heart and an upright, 
generous disposition. Hos- 
pitality was a common vir- 
tue, and there was no man 
so stingy as not to share 
his corn-dodger and over- 
crowded cabin with the 
stranger at his door. 

[221. The Move to Illi- 
nois. In the spring of 1830 
the Lincoln family said 
good-bye to Indiana, and, 
packing their possessions 
in a single wagon, moved 
to a settlement near Deca- 
tur, 111., where they were 
met by their kinsman, John 
Hanks. 

We are told that after 
crossing a stream on the 
way to Illinois Abraham 
looked back and saw their 

little dog whining on the opposite bank, afraid to step into the icy 
stream. Abe's kind heart could not stand the pleading cries, so 
he rolled up his trousers, waded the shallow stream and carried the 
dc^ safely across. 

Abraham was now of age. Before he began to work for him- 
self, which he had a right to do, he helped his father build a 
cabin and plan for the first needs of the family. With the help 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



350 JUNIOK HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

of John Hanks he plowed fifteen acres of land, planted the crops, 
and split enough walnut rails to make a fence around them. 

Later, two of these rails were carried into a state convention 
on the shoulders of his old-time helper. They won for him such 
enthusiasm that the name of "Honest Abe the rail-splitter/' was 
echoed and re-echoed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

Soon after he started to work for himself 3^oung Lincoln and 
two of his friends were hired by a merchant to take a boat-load 
of goods down the rivers to New Orleans. In this Southern city 
Abraham for the first time saw slaves being beaten, and from 
that day he hated the very thought of slavery. 

222. Lincoln as a Statesman. After Abraham Lincoln left 
his home he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He opened 
a law ofl&ce in Springfield, 111. 

It was not an easy matter for this young man to prepare him- 
self to be a lawj^er. He had his living to make, and he was too 
poor even to buy the books he needed; he had to borrow most 
of them. But he worked as hard at what books he could get as 
he had worked at splitting rails. He spent every free moment in 
study. When he was working in the fields, as he often did, he 
would snatch up a book as soon as the noon hour came, and read 
until it was time to go to work again. 

In 1833, during the Black Hawk War in northern Illinois 
and southern Wisconsin, Lincoln was elected captain of a com- 
pany of Illinois militia, and was sent against the Indians. He 
also served one term as a member of Congress. 

Aside from these honors not much is heard of him until his 
great debates with Senator S. A. Douglas in the summer and fall 
of 1858. Lincoln wished to be made a United States Senator from 
Illinois. Douglas had already served as Senator, but wished to 
serve again. He invited Lincoln to go with him through the 
state, stopping at different towns to debate on the affairs of tlic 
day. These debates were to prove which man ought to represent 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN 



251 



the state. Douglas was made Senator again, but the part Lincohi 
took in the debates made him known far and wide, and in 1860 
he was elected President of the United States. 

Immediately following his election as President came the 
secession of most of the Southern States, and the dreadful Civil 
War, which continued for four long years. 

223. Lincoln as President. Abraham Lincoln was elected 
President of the United States in the fall of 1860. Before he 
was inaugurated, March 4, 1861, seven of the slave-holding states 
of the extreme South had seceded from the Union. A short time 
after his inauguration four more of the slave-holding states se- 
ceded. 

Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia (then a part of Virginia 
proper), Maryland and Delaware, although slave-holding states, 
remained in the Union. 

The secession of these states brought on the Civil War. Our 
nation was fortunate beyond measure in having such a man as 
Abraham Lincoln for President during this fearful conflict. If 
other public men had been as wise as he war might have been 
avoided, and had he lived real peace would have come more quickly 
to the country, when once war was at an end. 

Washington and Lincoln stand as peers among the wisest and 
best of the world's great rulers. 

224. Lincoln's Death. At the very close of the war, after 
General Lee's great Southern army had surrendered to General 
Grant, and when other armies were surrendering, Lincoln was 
shot by the assassin J. Wilkes Booth. He had just been made 
President for the second time, when this wicked deed took from 
us as wise a leader as ever a country had, and in Abraham Lin.- 
coln's death the South lost a true friend. 

The remains of the martyred President were borne to their 
resting-place at Springfield, 111., where they now lie beneath a 
noble monument erected to his memory. 



CHAPTER XIX 



THE CIVIL WAE 



225. The Beginning. The first shot fired in the Civil War 
was heard in the early morning of April 12, 1861, in Charleston 
Harbor, S. C. On April 9, 1865, General Kobert E. Lee, the 
greatest Confederate commander, surrendered to General Ulysses 

S. Grant, commander of the Union Army. 
The time from April 12, 1861, to April 9, 
1865, is four years, almost to a day. 

These were years of intense suffering and 
of dreadful fighting. The soldiers of the 
North and those of the South were equally 
brave; it was this that made the 
war so long and so desperate. 
The North had the larger num- 
ber of men, so the South was finally com- 
pelled to give up the fight; it had fought 
until all its strength was gone. The South 
surrendered so manfully and so completely 
that the world still wonders at the peace 
which has reigned in the nation since the 
close of the war. There has been trouble in 
the South, but it has been over the negro question, and not about 
the Union. The Southern people are now as loyal to the Union 
as are the people of any section of this great nation. 

226. Slavery the Cause of the War. From the settlement of 
Jamestown until the Civil War the negro had been held as a slave 

252 




A NEGRO SLAVE 



THE CIVIL WAR 



253 



.*- -v 










,,>WfM 



NEGRO CABIN 



in at least a part of the United States. In the North slavery was 
not profitable, and for that reason the Northern states set the 
negro free — ^that is, became free states. This was done before the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. But in the South slavery 
was profitable in the raising of rice, cotton, sugar-cane and the 
indigo plant. For that reason the Southern people clung to slavery 
long after most other Christian nations had abolished it. 

After a time the Northern people became strongly opposed to 
slavery, and wanted to do something to banish it from the nation. 
They knew they had no right or power to do anything with it 
within the slave states, so they attempted to prevent new slave 
states from entering the Union. The South, on the other hand, 
wanted more slave states. Here, then, was the contest. 

227. Missouri Compromise. The first struggle was over the 
admission of Missouri as a slave state, in 1820. The second was 
in 1845, over the admission of Texas as a slave state. The third, 
and greatest of all, was in 1850 over the admission of California 



254 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

as a free state. The South desired that California should be a 
slave state, but its people wanted to be admitted as a free state. 
As a result of the first struggle, Missouri Avas admitted as a 
slave state, but in exchange for this the Missouri Compromise 
line was drawn, on the parallel of latitude thirty-six degrees and 
thirty minutes. All the Louisiana Purchase north of this line 
was to be free territory, and all south of it slave territory. Maine, 
a free state, was also admitted at this time, in order to keep the 
number of free and slave states equal. 

228. Texas. The second struggle was settled by the admis- 
sion of Texas as a slave state. There was no compromise in this 
case, as the North got nothing in exchange. In 1846, the next 
year, President Polk settled the Oregon Country dispute with 
England. By this treaty the United States obtained possession 
of the Oregon Country as far north as the forty-ninth parallel of 
latitude. It was believed that would be as soothing balm to the 
wounded feelings of the North for the victory of slavery in the 
Texas matter. 

229. The Fugitive Slave Law. To satisfy the South, as a 
balance for free California, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave 
Law, By this law a slave fleeing from his master into a free 
state must be returned by the aid of United States officers. Any- 
one helping a slave in his flight for freedom, or even feeding 
him, was liable to be fined and imprisoned if caught in the act. 
More than that, citizens were obliged to help the United States 
ofiicers to arrest a runaway slave if called upon to do so. 

All this the people of the North did not like, so the slavery 
question was not settled. Many of the slaves did get away, aided 
in secret by some of the Northern people; many thus reached 
Canada, where they were free and in no danger of being re- 
captured, as Canada was under the British flag. This method 
of aiding the slaves to reach Canada was known as the "Under- 
ground railroad." 



THE CIVIL WAR 



255 




CONFEDERATE STATES 



This aiding of the slaves made the people of the South very 
angry, and they began to talk about seceding from the Union. 

230. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill. In 1854, when Kansas 
and Nebraska were made territories, the Missouri Compromise of 
1820 was repealed, so that any man might migrate to Kansas 
or Nebraska with his slaves, and live there and not have them 
set free. 

Soon after this law went into force, the Eepublican party 
was organized to oppose the extension of slavery into the terri- 
tories, and to prevent any more slave states from entering the 
Union. 

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United 
States by this party. 

231. The Confederate States. The Southern people were very 
angry at the success of the Eepublican party. South Carolina 



356 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

seceded from the Union. She was followed quickly by Georgia 
and all the Gulf States. These states organized themselves into 
a confederacy, under the name of the "Confederate States of 
America." 

Montgomery, Ala., was selected as the first capital of the 
Confederate States. When Virginia seceded the capital was 
moved to Eichmond, Va., and it remained there until the final 
overthrow of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis was elected Presi- 
dent and A. H. Stevens Vice-President. 

Soon after the surrender of Fort Sumter Virginia, North 
Carolina and Tennessee seceded from the Union and joined the 
Confederate States. 

232. War along the Mississippi River. The Southern states, 
after they had seceded from the Union, quickly seized that part 
of the Mississippi flowing through the Confederacy, and built forts 
at different places on its banks. This was done in order to keep 
the Union army and navy from moving southward. 

A little study of the map will show that if the Union forces 
should seize this river and hold possession of it the Confederacy 
would be cut in two, one part being on the east and the other 
on the west bank of the river. This would be bad for the South, 
and would perhaps lead to its defeat. 

Therefore the first object of the North was to capture this 
river, if possible. Many battles were fought in order to do this. 
The battle of Fort Donelson was the first victory for the North 
in its efforts to open the Mississippi Eiver. Fifteen thousand 
Confederate soldiers were captured in this battle. Fort Donelson 
was on the Cumberland Eiver, but its capture gave the North pos- 
session of about two hundred miles of the Mississippi Eiver. Fort 
Donelson was captured in the early part of 1862. 

A few weeks later, Admiral Farragut, with his brave tars, his 
big guns and his large ships, fought his way from the Gulf of 
Mexico up the river to New Orleans, and above. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



257 



This victory gave 
the Union another 
two hundred miles of 
the river, this time 
at the South. 

A few weeks after 
the capture of New 
Orleans, other victo- 
ries of the Union 
army and navy in 
West Tennessee gave 
the North control of 
the IMississippi as 
far south as Vicks- 
burg. This included 
the city of Memphis. 
But Vicksburg was 
still held by the Con- 
federates. 

233. Vicksburg. 
The struggle for the 
Mississippi now 
ceased for a time. 
But in the early part 
of 1863 General 
Grant, by gaining several victories, shut the Confederate com- 
mander up in Vicksburg. After a siege of weeks the Confederates 
surrendered Vicksburg with an army of tliirty thousand men. The 
capture of Vicksburg gave the North complete control of the Missis- 
sippi Eiver from Cairo, 111., to the Gulf of Mexico. 

This was a heavy blow to the South and was one of the events 
that led to its final defeat. 

234. Events in Central Tennessee. The capture of Fort 




258 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 




General Braxton Bragg 
It took 



Donelson led also to 
the capture of Nash- 
ville, the capital of 
Tennessee. Starting 
from Nashville as a 
base, the Northern 
army fought its way 
southward through 
Central Tennessee to 

Chattanooga. But it took all of 1863 and 1863 to accomplish this. 
At first General W. S. Kosecrans and later General George H. 

Thomas commanded the Union forces 

was the Confederate commander during these two years 

four fierce battles to accomplish this 

work. One of the four was Chicka- 

mauga. This was, perhaps, the most 

desperate battle of the war. It was at 

this battle that General Thomas gained 

the title "The Rock of Chickamauga." 

235. Atlanta. During the sum- 
mer of 1864 the Union forces under 
General W. T. Sherman fought their 
way from Chattanooga southward 
through northern Georgia to Atlanta. 

General Joseph E. Johnston first, 
and General J, B. Hood later, were the 
Confederate commanders opposed to 
Sherman. 

After four months of marching 
and fighting, Atlanta fell into the 
hands of the Union forces. 

236. Sherman's March through 
Georgia. A few weeks' rest for Sher- 




THE CIVIL WAR 



259 



man's army, and they away again to battle. General Hood at- 
lempted to draw Sherman northward away from Atlanta, but 
he failed. Hood's movements opened the door of Georgia to 
the Union army. Sherman, taking advantage of this, began his 
famous march through Geor- 
gia. He started from At- 
lanta and came out safely 
at Savannah, which he cap- 
tured a few days before 
Christmas in 1864. 

It took the Union army 
three years to go from 
Nashville, through Chatta- 
nooga and Atlanta, to Sa- 
vannah. But the result was 
a fatal wound to the Con- 
federacy, as it was again 
cut in two. 

Counting the losses of 
both armies, the Union and 
the Confederate, the killed 
and wounded who fell in these battles during the struggle from 
Nashville to Savannah were more than one hundred thousand 
men. Another hundred thousand, perhaps, died of some disease 
or were sent home sick. 

237. The "War in the East. The war east of the Alleghany 
Mountains began in earnest at the battle of Bull Eun, near 
Washington. This was a great victory for the South; the Union 
troops fled in a panic to Washington. This battle was fought 
July 21, 1861. 

The defeated army was now enlarged, re-organized and given 
the name of the "Army of the Potomac," with General George 
B. McClellan as its commander. 




SHERMAN'S MARCH 



260 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The Southern army in the East was christened the "Army of 
Northern Virginia." Most of the time during the war General 
Eobert E. Lee was its commander. 

During the two years following the defeat at Bull Kun these 
two armies fought not less than ten great battles, and a number 
of others that were important enough to be called battles. 

All but one of these battles were fought in Virginia. That 
of Antietam, or, as the South called it, Sharpsburg, was fought 
in Maryland. 

The soil of Virginia and Maryland was made red with the 
blood of more than a hundred and fifty thousand brave men 
from the North and the South, who fell on these battle-fields 
during the two years. Thousands of these men were killed ; many 
thousands more were wounded and sent home to die or to go 
through life maimed and scarred. 

Yet, with all this suffering, the war seemed no nearer a close 
than at the beginning. Neither side seemed able to conquer the 
other. Victories and defeats were about equal with each army. 
But a change was at hand. 

238. Turn of the Tide. We remember that the war lasted 
four years, almost to a day. Now the first days of April, 1863, 
marked the period of time mid-way between the beginning and 
the close of the war. 

On this date plans that would turn the tide of war in favor 
of the North were set in motion. General Grant in the West 
was moving to capture Vicksburg. General Lee in the East was 
preparing his soldiers for a fearful blow at the North. General 
Grant succeeded at Vicksburg. General Lee failed at Gettys- 
burg. On the Fourth of July, in 1863, General Grant was 
marching into Vicksburg; on the same day General Lee with 
his defeated army was marching from Pennsylvania back into 
Virginia. 

This change was not because the Southern soldier was growing 



THE CIVIL WAR 261 

less brave or competent, but because the North could bring more 
soldiers into the field. 

239. The Close of the War. During the summer of 1864 
General Grant had direct command of the Union armies in Vir- 
ginia, while General George G. Meade commanded the Army of the 
Potomac, under him. General Grant was also commander of all 
the armies of the United States, even the soldiers under Sherman 
in the Mississi23pi Valley. 

During May and June in 1864 there was fearful fighting in 
Virginia. After almost one continuous battle, General Grant 
succeeded in placing his armies near Petersburg, twenty miles 
south of Eichmond and the James Eiver. This gave the North a 
great advantage, but it required a long siege of many months to 
gain the final victory. On "All Fool's Day" in 1865 General P. 
H. Sheridan, with his Union cavalry and aided by a part of 
Grant's army, won the battle of Five Forks. This victor}-, with 
the one at Petersburg the following day, compelled General Lcc 
to leave Eichmond. But in his attempt to escape he was headed 
off by General Sheridan, and compelled to surrender his army to 
General Grant. The surrender was made at Appomattox, April 
9, 1865. 

240. Sherman and Johnston. During the winter of 1864-5 
General Sherman had marched his armies from Savannah up 
through South Carolina to Goldsboro, N. C. He was here when 
Lee surrendered to Grant. General Joseph E. Johnston com- 
manded a Confederate army at Ealeigh, IST. C. When he heard 
of Lee's surrender, he had the good sense to know that it was 
useless to fight any longer and surrendered his army also. A few 
weeks later all the other Confederate armies surrendered, including 
those west of the Mississippi Eiver. 

241. War Poetry. On October 19, 1864, General Early of the 
Confederate army attacked the Union forces at Cedar Creek, in 
the Shenandoah Valley. General Sheridan was the Union com- 



262 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



mander. lie liad been to Washington, and on his way back he 
spent the night at Winchester. 

The next morning the Union general started to join his army, 
which was camped twenty miles south of Winchester. Suddenly 
the roar of battle came to 
his ears from (he south. He 
soon met some of his own 
soldiers on the road. He 
learned that his army had 
been surprised at early day- 
break, had been defeated, 
and was now in full retreat. 

Sheridan hastened to 
the front and gathered his 
troops together. About the 
middle of the afternoon of 
the same day he marched 
against the enemy, and be- 
fore night-fall he had won 
a brilliant victory. 

This poem describes his 
ride from Winchester : 




« 



GENERAL SHERIDAN 



SHERIDAN'S RIDE 

Up from the South at break of day, 
Bringingf to Winchester fresh dismay, 
The affrighted air -n-ith a shudder bore, 
Like a herald iu haste, to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible o;i""ible and rumble and roar, 
Telling the battle was on once more, 
And Sheridan twenty miles away. 

And wider still those billows of war 
Thundered along the horizon's bar. 
And louder yet into Winchester rolled 



THE CIVIL WAE 263 

The roar of that red sea uncontrolled, 
Making the blood of the listener cold 
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray, 
With Sheridan twenty miles away. 

But there is a road from Winchester town, 
A good, broad highway leading down; 
And there, through the flush of the morning light, 
A steed as black as the steeds of night 
Was seen to pass as with eagle flight; 
As if he knew the terrible need, 
He stretched away with his utmost speed; 
Hills rose and fell — but his heart was gay. 
With Sheridan fifteen miles away. 

Still sprung from those swift hoofs, thundering south, 
The dust, like smoke from the cannon 's mouth, 
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster, 
Foreboding to foemen the doom of disaster; 
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master 
Were beating like prisoners assaulting tlieir walls. 
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls ; 
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play. 
With Sheridan only ten miles away. 

Under his spurning feet the road 
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed. 
And the landscape sped away behind 
Like an ocean flying before the wind ; 
And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, 
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire; 
But lo! he is uearing his heart's desire. 
He is snuflBng the smoke of the roaring fray. 
With Sheridan only five miles away. 

The first that the general saw were the groups 

Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops; 

What was done — what to do — a glance told him both. 

And, striking his spurs, with a terrible oath, 

He dashed down the line mid a storm of huzzas. 



264 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because 
The sight of the master compelled it to pause. 
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray; 
By the flash of his eye and red nostril's play. 
He seemed to the whole great army to say, 
"I have brought you Sheridan all the way 
From Winchester down, to save the day." 

Hurrah, hurrah for Sheridan! 
Hurrah, hurrah for horse and man! 
And when their statues are placed on high, 
Under the dome of the Union sky — 
The American soldiers' Temple of Fame — 
There, with the glorious general's name. 
Be it said in letters both bold and bright : 
"Here is the steed that saved the day 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight, 
From Winchester — twenty miles away. ' ' 

— T. Buclianan Bead, 

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC 
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; 
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; 
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword: 
His truth is marching on. 

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; 
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps; 
I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: 
His day is marching on. 

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: 
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shaU deal ; 
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel. 
Since God is marching on. ' ' 

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat: 
0, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet! 
Our God is marching on. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



265 



In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, 
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me; 
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make them free. 
While God is marching on. 

— Julia Ward Howe. 

242. The Atlanta Campaign. During the first days of May, 
1864, General Sherman, with an army of one hundred tlTousand 
men, started from Chattanooga with the object of capturing 
Atlanta, Ga. This city 
was in the very heart of 
the Confederacy, and for 
that reason it was thought 
that its capture would do 
much toward bringing 
the war to a close. After 
four months of hard 
fighting Atlanta was ta- 
ken, but the South was 
not yet ready to give up 
the struggle. General 
Hood, the Southern com- 
mander, made a bold dash 
for the North, hoping to 
make General Sherman 
follow him and give up 
Atlanta. But this was a 
fatal mistake, as it left 
all of Georgia open to 
Sherman's army. 

Sherman, seeing his 
opportunity, marched his 

army from Atlanta, through Georgia, to Savannah. This march 
is known in history as ''Sherman's March to the Sea." 




GENERAL SHERMAN 



26G JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The following poem was written by Adjutant Byers. It was 
set to music and sung by the Union prisoners in Columbia, S. C. 

SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA 

Our camp-fires shoue bright on the mountain 

That frowned on the river below, 
As we stood by our guns in the morning 

And eagerly watched for the foe, 
"When a rider came out from the darkness 

That hung over mountain and tree, 
And shouted: "Boys, up and be ready, 

For Sherman will march to the sea." 

Then cheer upon cheer for bold Sherman 

Went up from each valley and glen, 
And the bugles re-echoed the music 

That came from the lips of the men; 
For we knew that the stars on our banner 

More bright in their splendor would be, 
And that blessings from Northland would greet us 

When Sherman marched down to the sea. 

Then forward, boys, forward to battle! 

We marched on our wearisome way, 
We stormed the wild hills of Resaca 

God bless those who fell on that day: 
Then Kenesaw, dark in its glory, 

Frowned down on the flag of the free; 
But the East and the West bore our standard 

And Sherman marched on to the sea. 

Still onward we pressed, till our banner 

Swept out from Atlanta's grim wall. 
And the blood of the patriot dampened 

The soil where the dark shadows fall; 
But we paused not to weep for the fallen 

Who slept by each river and tree, 
Yet we twined them a wreath of the laurel 

As Sherman marched down to the sea. 



THE CIYIL WAR 



267 



Oh, proud was our army that morning, 

That stood where the pine darkly towers. 
When Sherman said, ' ' Boys, you are weary ; 

But to-day fair Savannah is ours ! ' ' 
Then sang we a song for our chieftain. 

That echoed o'er river and lea, 
And the stars in our banner shone brighter 

When Sherman camped down by the sea. 

—S. H. M. Byers. 

243. The Grand Keview. At the close of the Civil War, and 
before the great army of the North was disbanded, the eastern army 
and the western, each by itself, was 
ordered to march in grand review 
before President Johnson and Gen- 
eral Grant, through the streets of 
Washington. 

The Army of the Potomac, the 
Eastern army, led by General Meade, 
took most of May 23, 1865, to march 
through the broad avenues of the 
capital. 

May 24th was given to the West- 
ern army, led by General Sherman. 
It will be remembered that Sher- 
man's army had started during the 
first days of May, 1864, from Chat- 
tanooga, had captured Atlanta, had 
marched from Atlanta to Savannah, 
and from Savannah northward 
through the Carolinas to Kaleigh, 
N. C. After receiving the surrender 
of the Confederate army under Gen- 
eral Johnston, Sherman marched his 
men northward to Washington. union soldier 




268 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The Army of the Potomac had a few days before been marched 
from southwestern Virginia to Washington. So it will be seen that 
both, or at least a part of both, great Union armies had been brought 
together at the capital. 

This grand review suggested to Bret Harte another army, the 
army of the dead — ^the invisible hosts that had laid down their lives 
that the nation might live. 

A SECOND REVIEW OF THE GRAND ARMY 

I READ last night of the grand review 
In Washington's chief est avenue — 
Two hundred thousand men in blue, 

I think they said was the number — 
Till I seemed to hear their trampling feet, 
The bugle blast and the drum's quick beat. 
The clatter of hoofs in the stony street, 
The cheers of people who come to greet, 
And the thousand details that to repeat 

Would only my verse encumber — 
Till I fell in a revery, sad and sweet, 

And then to a fitful slumber. 

When, lo! in a vision I seemed to stand 

In the lonely Capitol. On each hand .: 

Far stretched the portico; dim and grand il 

Its columns ranged Itke a martial band 

Of sheeted spectres whom some command 

Had called to a last reviewing. 
And the streets of the city were white and bare; 
No footfall echoed across the square; 
But out of the misty midnight air 
I heard in the distance a trumpet blare. 
And the wandering night-winds seemed to bear 

The sound of a far tattooing. 

Then I held my breath with fear and dread; 
For into the square, with a brazen tread, 



THE CIVIL WAR 269 

There rode a figure whose stately head 

O'erlooked the review that morning, 
That never bowed from its firm-set seat 
When the living column passed its feet, 
Yet now rode steadily up the street 

To the phantom bugle's warning. 

Till it reached the Capitol square, and wheeled, 
And there in the moonlight stood revealed 
A well-known form that in State and field 

Had led our patriot sires: 
Whose face was turned to the sleeping camp. 
Afar through the river's fog and damp, 
That showed no flicker, nor waning lamp, 

Nor wasted bivouac fires. 

And I saw a phantom army come, 
With never a sound of fife or drum. 
But keeping time to a throbbing hum 

Of wailing and lamentation: 
The martyred heroes of Malvern Hill, 
Of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville, 
The men whose wasted figures fill 

The patriot graves of the nation. 

And there came the nameless dead — the men 
Who perished in fever swamp and fen, 
The slowly-starved of the prison pen, 

And, marching beside the others. 
Came the dusky martyrs of Pillow's fight. 
With limbs enfranchised and bearing bright; 
I thought — perhaps 'twas the pale moonlight — 

They looked as white as their brothers! 

And so all night marched the nation's dead. 
With never a banner above them spread. 
Nor a badge, nor a motto brandished; 
Nor mark — save the bare uncovered head 
Of the silent bronze Reviewer; 



270 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



With never an arch save the vaulted sky; 
With never a flower save those that lie 
On the distant graves — for love could buy 
No gift that was purer or truer. 

So all night long swept the strange array; 
So all night long till the morning gray 
I watched for one who had passed away, 

With a reverent awe and wonder — 
Till a blue cap waved in the length 'ning line, 
And I knew that one who was kin of mine 
Had come; and I spake — and lo! that sign 

Awakened me from my slumber. 

— Bret Harte. 



244. Memorial Day. 




CONFEDERATE SOLDIER 



The four years of Civil War "were a 
long night in which the death-angel 
flew over our land, and when at last 
dawn appeared it was found he had 
touched the 
first - born of 
nearly every 
household i n 
the land.'' 
Perhaps the old Greek custom 
of placing flowers on the graves 
of their heroes was suggested to 
the mind of some one in the 
North or the South. We know 
that shortly after the close of the 
war the custom of strewing flow- 
ers over the graves of the dead 
soldiers became universal both in 
the North and in the South. 
The time set apart for this pur- 
pose was at first known as Decora- 



THE CIVIL WAR 271 

tion Day, but later the more appropriate name of Memorial Day 
was given it. 

"In each glorious springtime throughout our land, North and 
South, loving hearts come with willing hands to strew sweet 
flowers above the dust of heroes — some who sleep in gray and 
some in blue." 

"When the Southern women, after sorrowfully decorating the 
graves of their own soldiers, passed to those of the Union dead 
and placed flowers upon their graves, they showed that motherly 
affection which is grander and more lasting than patriotism." 

The beautiful custom of strewing flowers on the graves of 
America's dead heroes teaches us lessons of charity, sympathy, 
patriotism and the universal brotherhood of man. 

The following poem was suggested by reading that the women 
of Columbus, Miss., strewed flowers alike on the graves of the 
Confederate and of the Union soldiers: 

THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 

By the flow of the inland river, 

Whence the fleets of iron have fled, 
Where the blades of the green grass quiver, 
Asleep are the ranks of the dead, — 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day: 
Under the one, the Blue; 
Under the other, the Gray. 

These in the robings of glory, 

Those in the gloom of defeat, 
All vrith the battle-blood gory, 
In the dusk of eternity meet, — 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day: 
Under the laurel, the Blue; 
Under the willow, the Gray. 



372 JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

From the silence of sorrowful hours 

The desolate mourners go, 
Lovingly laden with flowers 

Alike for the friend and the foe, — 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day: 
Under the roses, the Blue; 
Under the lilies, the Gray. 

So with an equal splendor 

The morning sun-rays fall, 
With a touch impartially tender. 

On the blossoms blooming for all, — 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day: 
Broidered with gold, the Blue; 
Mellowed with gold, the Gray. 

— Francis M. Finch. 

245. The Presidents since the war have been the following: 

Andrew Johnson 4 years, nearly. 

Ulysses S. Grant 8 years, two terms. 

Eutherford B. Hayes 4 years, one term. 

James A. Garfield 6 months. 

Chester A. Arthur 3 years, 6 months. 

Grover Cleveland 4 3^ears, one term. 

Benjamin Harrison 4 years, one term. 

Grover Cleveland 4 j^ears, one term. 

William McKinley 4 years, 6 months. 

Theodore Roosevelt 7 years, 6 months. 

246. Reconstniction. As a result of the Civil War, the 
Confederate States became disorganized; that is, they had no 
Senators or Representatives in Congress, no governors or other 
state officers. Each one of these officers before he enters upon 
his duties must take an oath to support the Constitution of the 



THE CIVIL WAR 273 

United States. But these men from the South had all taken 
an oath to support the Confederate Constitution. 

It took some time to reorganize the seceding states; this is 
known as the Eeconstruction Period. 

It was not until 1870, five years after the surrender of Lee 
at Appomattox, that Texas, the last of the seceding states, was 
admitted once more to the Union. 

During a period of about fifteen years there was much trouble 
in the South. The negroes, who of course were not educated, 
were permitted to vote. The result was very bad. The govern- 
ment fell largely into the hands of the negro and some unprin- 
cipled white men. The negroes, being ignorant, became the mere 
tools of these white men, many of whom were from the North. 

The Southern people were robbed by heavy taxes and by dis- 
honest men in oiSce, 

During the administration of Mr. Hayes, negro-rule came to 
an end. But the negro question is not yet settled in the South; 
indeed, it is one of our greatest problems to-day. 

247. Progress Since the Civil "War. Since the close of the 
war for the Union great progress has been made in the United 
States — progress in inventions, in education, in the condition of 
the laboring classes, in wealth, in knowledge, in inventions, in 
literature and art, and in methods of living. 

The farmer now has his daily mail brought to his door; he 
has his telephone by which he can talk with his neighbors; he 
has macadamized roads, and many other things that even kings 
could not possess a hundred years ago. 

The condition of the laboring classes has greatly improved, 
perhaps largely from two causes: First, from public school edu- 
cation, and, secondly, by means of the labor unions. 

Dr. Melntyre expresses well the sentiment of the American 
people in the following poem: 



374 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



THE BREAD-WINNERS' BALLAD* 

"Thou Shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn." — Deut. 
XXV, 4. Dr. Mclntyre has caught the true spirit of the Old Mosaic law and 
applied it to the laboring man of our day. 

At the break of day and the set of sun we hear their heavy tread. 
God's old Brigade, all undismayed, they battle for daily bread. 
And they laugh to know that long ago the Lord of life and death 
Fared forth at dawn, and home at dusk, with them in Nazareth. 
Foreheads white for lack of light, or brows all brown with grime. 
Their garments black with soot and slack, or gray with mason's lime. 
They ring the trowel, push the plane, they travel the stormy deep. 
They click the type and clang the press, when loved ones are asleep. 
Through the city street and the country lane their lusty voices ring; 
By the roaring forge in the mountain gorge this cheery song they sing: 
Oh, we march away in the early morn. 

As we have since the world began. 
Don't mussle the ox that treadeth the com. 

Leave a share for the worJcingman. 

Some are workmen coarse and strong, and some are craftsmen fine, 
They set the plow, they steer the raft, they sweat in sunless mine; 
They lift the sledge and rive the wedge, they hide, with cunning art. 
The powder where the spark can tear the mountain's granite heart; 
They reap the fields of ripened grain, and fill the lands with bread; 
They make the ore give up its gold beneath the stamp-mill's tread; 
They spread the snowy sail afloat, they sweep the dripping seine. 
They waft the wife a fond farewell, and they ne'er come home again. 

But they marched away in the early morn, 
As they have since the world began. 

Don't mmzsle the ox that treadeth the corn, 
Leave a share for the worJcingman. 

They make the fiery furnace flow in streams of spouting steel; 
They bend the planks and brace the ribs along the oaken keel; 
They fold the flock, they feed the herd, they in the forest hew. 
And with the whetstone on the scythe beat labor's sweet tattoo; 
They climb the coping, swing the crane, and set the capstone high; 

^Published by permission of the author. 



THE CIVIL WAE 275 

They stretch the heavy bridge that hangs a roadway in the sky; 
They speed the shuttle, spin the thread, and weave the silken weft; 
Or crushed to death amid the wreck, they leave the home bereft. 
But they march away in the early morn, 

As they have since the world began. 
Don't mussle the ox that treadeth the corn, 
Leave a share for the worTcingman. 

In ancient days they were but serfs, and by the storied Nile, 
Unhappy hordes, they drew the cords around the heathen pile. 
Where Karnak, Tyre, and Carthage stood, where rolls Euphrates' wave, 
Grim gods looked down with stony frown upon the hapless slave. 
That day is past, thank Heaven, no more does Man the Toiler bow 
His mighty head with fear and dread, for he is Master now. 
His hand is strong, his patience long, his wholesome blood is calm, 
Within his soul sits peace enthroned, and on his lips this psalm: 
Oh, we march away in the early m,OTn, 

As we have since the woiid began. 
Don't muzzle the ox that treadeth the com. 
Leave a share for the workingman. 

— Bobert Mclntyre. 



CHAPTEK XX 

GROWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 

248. Pike's Explorations. During the summer and fall of 
1806 Captain Z. M. Pike, accompanied by a small company of 
soldiers, explored the valley of the Arkansas Eiver. 

From St. Louis he passed up the Missouri Eiver to the Osage; 
from there he marched overland to the west until he reached 
the Arkansas. Here he divided his company, sending a part of 
his men under Lieutenant Wilkinson down the river, to explore 
it to its junction with the Mississippi. Captain Pike with his 
part of the company ascended the Arkansas to the foot-hills of 
Colorado. 

As a side trip he went to the base of a lofty mountain, since 
known as Pike's Peak. He did not ascend the peak, as he says 
in his report: "No human being could have ascended to its 
pinnacle." But in this he was mistaken. A track railway has 
been built along its slope, up to the very summit, so that many 
thousand people each summer are carried to the place to which 
Captain Pike thought no human being could ascend. 

During the warmer parts of the year a United States weather 
bureau station is now maintained on the summit of Pike's Peak. 

249. Long's Explorations. By the year 1830 steamboats had 
come into general use on western rivers. The human tide was 
flowing westward along the Missouri River and beyond. 

From reports of hunters, trappers and traders it seemed pos- 
sible that the head waters of the Platte marked the true gateway 
over the Rockies to the country beyond. 

276 



GEOWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 



277 



Accordingl}', in 1820 Major Stephen H. Long was sent out at 
the head of a scientific-military expedition, to find, if possible, this 
much-desired pass. 

From Omaha the expedition passed up the Platte by way of 
the South Fork to the base of the Eocky Mountains. 

The high elevation which is now Icnown as Long's Peak was 
seen and named in honor of the leader of this expedition, but it 
was not climbed until two vears later. 




EailGRANT WAGON 



A part of the company explored the head waters of the Kan- 
sas, and were the first men, perhaps, to see the Eoyal Gorge, now 
famous for its scenery and its railroad. 

250. The South Pass. Many other expeditions followed dur- 
ing the next ten or fifteen years, so that by 1832 the general 
character of the Eocky Mountains was pretty well understood. It 
was found that near the head waters of the North Fork of the 
Platte Eiver the Eockies are depressed so as to form a natural 
gateway through the mountains. 



278 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Travelers many times amuse themselves by carrying a pail 
of water from a stream whose waters flow to the Pacific and 
emptying it into a stream whose waters flow to the Gulf of Mexico. 
These head waters are in some places but a few rods apart. 

The principal route of travel was through the South Pass. It 
was through this pass that the great tide of migration flowed 
a few years later. 

251. The Missionaries to Oregon. In 1834 the Eev. Jason 
Lee, a Methodist missionary, with his coworkers, went by way of the 
South Pass, Fort Hall, down the Snake Eiver to the Columbia. 

On the lower Columbia and in the "Willamette Valley they 
established mission stations among the Indians. 

Two years later Dr. Marcus Whitman, with other missionaries 
sent out by the Presbyterian Church, passed over the same route 
and planted missionary stations among the Indians near the junc- 
tion of the Lewis and Clark forks of the Columbia. Dr. Whitman 
himself was stationed on the Walla Walla, a small tributary of 
the Columbia. 

Dr. "WTiitman and his party were successful in taking a wagon, 
or at least a part of one with two wheels, over this route. This 
proved that the Oregon Trail, as we will now call it, could easily 
be made passable for wagon trains. The wives of two of these 
missionaries, Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding, were the first 
white women known to have crossed the Rockies into the Columbia 
Valley. Their children were, perhaps, the first white children born 
in Oregon. 

252. The First Great Crossing. In May, 1843, a great caravan 
of not less than a thousand emigrants, composed of men, women 
and children, with more than a hundred canvas-covered wagons, 
started from a point on the Missouri Eiver near Kansas City, to 
find new homes on the banks of the Columbia. They followed 
the same route as that taken by the missionaries a few years be- 
fore. Dr. Whitman, the medical missionary, was with this emi- 



GEOWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 279 

grant train, and during the latter part of the journey was its 
masterful leader. 

The fact of most interest in this connection is that this long 
wagon train passed the Great Continental Divide. This was done 
only with hard labor and much suffering, but it was done. And it 
was done over a route where it was supposed only pack-horses could 
be used to carry baggage. 

253. Oregon in the American Union. In 1846, by a treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain, Oregon became a 
part of the United States, Two years later the country was or- 
ganized into the Territory of Oregon. 

In 1859 most of the Oregon Country south of the Columbia 
and west of the Snake (or Lewis) Eiver was admitted to the Union 
as a state. Besides Oregon, all of Washington and Idaho and 
a small part of Montana and Wyoming were carved from the 
Oregon Country. It will be noticed that the head waters of the 
North Fork of the Platte Eiver mark the great central gateway 
to the Pacific slope. Lewis and Clark's route over the mountains 
never has been used by the trader or for commerce. 

254. Fremont's Explorations. Captain John C. Fremont's 
first expedition, made in 1843, was imimportant. He explored 
the South Pass, ascended Fremont's Peak, and returned home. 

In 1843 he went on a second and more important expedition. 
On this trip he went by way of the Santa Fe Trail to Bent's Fort. 
From this point he passed northward over the Kockies to Great 
Salt Lake. After exploring this region he passed over to the 
Columbia Valley. 

For a few days his company followed the same trail as the 
Wliitman wagon train, and was in company with it; so that in 
this case the emigrant was abreast of the explorer. 

From the tide-water of the Columbia Fremont led his expedi- 
tion southward to the Sacramento Valley. California was at this 
time a part of Mexico. 



380 



JUNIOR HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 






In the spring of 1S44 he returned eastward over the Sierra 
Mountains, across the Great Interior Basin, over the Eockies and 
across the plains to Kansas City, his starting-point, 

Fremont's third expedition was very important in its results. 
His object was to find a pass through the Sierra iSTevada Mountains 
through which a continental railroad to 
San Francisco Bay might be built. But 
while he was on the Pacific Coast the Mex- 
ican War broke out. This war brought 
great changes to California. By the aid 
of Fremont's company 
of soldiers and some 
United States warships 
a few American set- 
tlers drove out the 
Mexicans and set up a 
government under the 
American flag. 

255. Gold 
in California, 
The treaty 
which closed 
the Mexican 
War was 
signed in the 
early days of 
1848. A few 
weeks later 
gold was found in the sand and gravel thrown out by some work- 
men while digging a mill-race for Captain Sutter. After that, gold 
in abundance was found glittering in the sand in all the streams of 
the Sacramento Valley. 

During the spring and summer of 1849 men flocked to Cali- 
fornia from all parts of the world. Some went by way of the 




WASHING GOLD IN A CRADLE 



GROWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 281 

Isthmus of Panama; others rounded Cape Horn. But the greater 
number of Americans passed over the route about which we have 
been studying — the route pointed out by the explorers, the trappers, 
the hunters and the traders. 

The overland travel was principally by means of ox-teams. 
Each of the large canvas-covered freight wagons was drawn by 
three to six yoke of oxen. Horses and mules also were used to 
some extent, but the ox-teams, though slow, were better. At the 
close of the day they could be unyoked and sent out to pick their 
o^Ti supper and breakfast from the buffalo grass growing in 
abundance on all the prairies and on most of the plains. 

256. California Made a State. So rapid was the growth of 
California that in 1850 the people called a convention, adopted a 
constitution, and asked to be admitted to the Union as a free state. 
Congress would not at first admit her because of the slavery ques- 
tion; the South wished her to be a slave state, and the North 
wished her to be a free state. But we remember that she was 
finally admitted with her constitution forbidding slavery. 

257. The Mormons. During the year of 1846 the Mormon 
people, led by Brigham Young, migrated from ISTauvoo, 111., across 
the plains to the vicinity of Great Salt Lake. Their object was to 
build new homes far away from other people, where they could 
live according to their peculiar beliefs. 

Young taught his people that it was right that each man 
should have as many wives as he could properly support. This is 
known as polygamy, a word meaning "many wives."" This was the 
cause of the trouble in Illinois, and the reason for the wish of the 
Mormons to separate themselves from other people. 

The country around the Great Salt Lake is by nature a desert, 
but the Mormons have irrigated the land and made their home 
a garden spot. These people had hardly laid out Salt Lake City, 
their capital, when the rush to California came sweeping by 
them. 



282 



JUNIOE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



258. Overland Travel* The great flood of migration to Cali- 
fornia and Oregon continued for many years. Eoads, bridges, 
trading-posts, soldiers and military stations, were now necessary, 
to assist, accommodate and protect this moving mass of humanity. 



^.W^.. 




rONY EXPRESS 



A mail route by way of South Pass was soon opened between 
the Missouri and the Pacific. The mail and express route, by way 
of the Santa Fe trail, was known as the Southern Overland Eoute. 

The overland stage carried both passengers and the United 
States mail, 

259. The Pony Express. But the stage-coach was too slow for 
the business men of America. In 1860 the Pony Express came 
into use. Eelay stations were placed from fifteen to twenty miles 
apart, and these stations extended from the Missouri to the Pacific, 
a distance of two thousand miles. 

Every day two horsemen would start, each with his mail bag, 



GROWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 



283 



one from the Pacific Coast, moving eastward, the other from tlic 
Missouri, moving westward. Each horseman rode at the highest 
speed his pony could make to the first relay station. Here another 
man, on a fresh pony, seized the mail bag and sped on to the next 
station. This ride continued, night and day, until the mail was 
delivered at the other end of the journey. 

This way of carrying mail or express was very expensive. 
Everything thus sent must be made as light as possible ; all written 
or printed matter must be on the thinnest of paper. The cost for 
each letter was more than the cost of a cablegram to Europe to-day. 

260. Overland Telegraph. The Pony Express continued but 
two years, for by this time a telegraph line had been completed 
across the continent. 

The emigrant train, the stage-coach, the Pony Express and 
the telegraph line were all more or less troubled by the Indians. 
Many of the red men had become hostile to the whites because 
they saw their hunting-grounds occupied and their game disap- 
pearing. 

The emigrant train and the stage-coach with its passengers had 
many an encounter with the Indians of the plains. The riders of 
the Pony Express were in constant danger from the same source. 

In addition to these dangers many white bandits infested this 
region, and reaped a rich harvest by holding up the stage-coach and 
robbing its passengers. 

Bands of Indians would destroy the telegraph line for some 
distance. The telegraph company had to think of a plan for send- 
ing its messages without waiting for the Indians to be driven off 
and the line to be mended. During the night a fine insulated wire 
would be strung through the prairie grass, around the Indians. 
Before morning the break would be closed by means of this wire. 
Messages of the utmost importance passed through this almost 
invisible wire until the Indians were driven off and the main line 
restored. 



384 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

261. Colorado. In 1858, ten years after the discovery of gold 
in California, the same metal was found in Colorado, not far from 
Pike's Peak. Gold-seekers in great numbers went across the plains 
to these new fields. Denver, the center of interest to the gold- 
seekers, grew rapidly, and is now the great central city of the 
West. 

So rapid was the growth of Colorado that in 1876 it was 
admitted into the Union as a state. 

Colorado is noted not only for its gold mines, but also for its 
silver mines. But, better than gold and silver, many people troubled 
with asthma and weakness of the lungs find relief and comfort 
in the rare atmosphere along the Colorado foot-hills of the Eockies. 

262. The First Overland Railroad. While the war for the 
Union was in progress Congress made provisions for building an 
overland railroad from the Missouri to the Pacific. 

By May, 1869, just twenty years after the rush of gold-seekers 
to California, the through line was completed. 

The Union Pacific Company built from Omaha westward over 
the plains, through the Eockies, to Ogden. The Central Pacific 
Company, starting from Sacramento, built eastward through the 
passes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, across the Great Interior 
Basin, to Great Salt Lake. At Ogden, Utah, the two companies 
met, thus forming one continuous line from Sacramento to Omaha. 
The Atlantic and Pacific were bound together by bands of steel. 

One can now ride in comfort from New York to San Francisco, 
a distance of three thousand miles. But the hunter, the discoverer, 
the explorer, the gold-seeker, the pioneer, the surveyor and the 
engineer had gone before to prepare for the steam-engine and 
the steel roadway. 

263. Other Overland Eailroads. In 1870 the building of the 
Northern Pacific was begun. This road extends from the western 
end of Lake Superior, at Duluth, to Puget Sound, in Washington. 
A branch also starts from Saint Paul and joins the main line in 
northern Minnesota. 



GEOWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 385 

The eastern part of the country through which this road passes 
is now, perhaps, the greatest wheat-growing country in the world. 
When the building of the road was begun the country was a vast 
expanse of prairie, covered with grass on which multitudes of 
buffalo fed. The same country is now covered with great herds 
of tame cattle. 

The Eocky Mountain region is now a rich mining region. 

A second great continental railroad now extends from St. Paul 
and Minneapolis to Washington and Oregon. This road is known 
as the Great Northern. It runs nearly parallel to the Northern 
Pacific, and a little to the north of it. 

Two other roads pass through New Mexico and Arizona to 
Southern California. 

Counting these, we find five great continental railroads extend- 
ing from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific, all built since the 
Civil War. 

264. The Pacific Slope. Los Angeles was the principal pueblo 
or village of Southern California during the Spanish and Mexican 
rule. It was noted for its grapes, fruits and wines. Irrigation 
ditches were, and still are, fed by the melting snows from moun- 
tains near by. 

Only a few square miles in area were thus favored, as most of 
Southern California is a desert unless irrigated. But at the present 
time large areas of this section are covered with vineyards, orange 
groves and orchards of peach and other fruit-bearing trees. It 
is now a paradise of fruits and flowers; a haven of rest for ill and 
tired people; a joy forever to its inhabitants; a wonderland of 
beauty to the traveler. All this is the result of irrigation; man 
has taken a desert and has transformed it into the garden spot 
of the world. 

Fruit-raising is not confined to Southern California, for fruits 
are grown successfully as far north as Oregon and Washington. 
It will be seen that the real wealth of the Pacific slope lies not 



286 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

alone in its gold and silver but in its agricultural products; its 
riches are not so much under the soil as in or out of it. Its mineral 
'wealth is great, but its vegetable wealth is vastly greater. 

When the Americans took possession of California, Monterey, a 
seaport south of San Francisco Bay, was its capital. At that time 
San Francisco was known as Yerba Buena. The town had less than 
five hundred inhabitants. But it did not take the Americans very 
long to learn that San Francisco Bay was the great natural seaport 
of the Pacific Coast. In 1847 Yerba Buena was renamed San 
Francisco. This was the beginning of a city which came to be the 
largest on the Pacific Coast of America. 

The discovery of gold in Sierra Nevada brought a multitude of 
people from all parts of the world to this region, causing the city 
to grow very rapidly. In 1906 a terrible earthquake almost com- 
pletely destroyed San Francisco, but its citizens are losing no 
time in rebuilding it, and when all is done the city will be finer 
than ever. 

The Pacific Coast has only a few large harbors. San Francisco 
Bay, the lower part of the Columbia Eiver, and the Puget Sound 
region are the best fitted for commerce. 

Portland, on the Columbia Eiver, is the most important city 
and seaport in Oregon. Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle are cities 
of Washington grouped around Puget Sound. 

265. Indians of the Oreat West. At the close of the Civil 
War most of the country between the Missouri and the Pacific was 
occupied by numerous tribes of Indians. Some of these were 
civilized, or partly civilized, but most of them were savages, who 
roamed and hunted over the prairies, plains and mountains. These 
red men had no idea of calling the white men their masters. 

It has always been the plan of the United States to collect as 
many as possible of the red men into reservations, where they may 
be fed and otherwise properly cared for. 

All the Indians living in the East and Southeast and in the 



GEOWTH OF THE GREAT WEST 287 

great Middle West had been so cared for. As a result, all Indian 
Wars had ceased in those parts of the Union. 

In the great West the pioneers and gold-seekers were pushing 
aside the Indian and occupying his hunting-grounds. But many 
of the wild red men of the plains and the mountains were not yet 
willing to shut themselves up in government reservations. Some 
of those who were in reservations were robbed by government agents 
of their proper supplies of food and clothing. 

The result of all this was continual warfare, more or less severe, 
with the western tribes. 

266. Some Indian Wars. In 1862, while the North was hav- 
ing all it could do in fighting the South, the Sioux of Minnesota 
went on the war-path. They surprised the peaceful settlers, and 
massacred many of them. The Indians were soon put down, and a 
few of the leaders hanged. 

It was proposed in 1872 to move the Modoc Indians of Oregon 
to another reservation. They refused to go and fought for many 
months. They were finally conquered and taken to the Indian 
Territory. A few years later they were permitted to return to 
their western home. 

Under the leadership of Sitting Bull the Sioux of Dakota 
resisted the efforts to remove them from the Black Hills country to 
a new reservation. The result was the Sioux War. In 1876 oc- 
curred the battle of the Little Big Horn Eiver, in Montana. Here 
General Custer, in his attempt to head off the flight of the Indians 
with a part of his regiment, was surrounded, and he and every 
man with him were killed. A part of the regiment under Major 
Rino escaped. 

In the war for the Union General Custer was famous as being 
one of the bravest of all that brave cavalry command under General 
Sheridan in Virginia. He was too brave; had he been less so, he 
and his men would not have perished at the Little Big Horn. 

Sitting Bull and his Indians escaped to Manitoba, where for 



288 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

a few years they lived peaceably under the Canadian Government. 
He afterward returned to Dakota and went on a government 
reservation. 

There were other struggles between the government and the 
Indians in the West, but we now may hope we have seen the last 
Indian war in North America. Not all Indians are civilized yet, 
but all are either on reservations or are citizens of the United States. 

267. Alaska Purchase. In 1867 our government bought of 
Eussia, for $7,300,000, the part of our continent then known as 
Russian America. This new territory was named Alaska, an 
Indian word meaning "Great Country." The purchase added 
more than half a million of square miles to the United States, but 
many people at the time thought the price a high one to pay for 
rocks, ice and snow. 

The purchase has proved valuable, indeed. Alaska is rich in 
furs, fisheries, timber and gold and other minerals. In 1897 gold 
was discovered in the Yukon district, and the next year rich gold 
deposits were found at Cape Nome and elsewhere along the western 
coast. As in the case of California in 1848, hundreds of men 
rushed to Alaska to seek their fortunes, and much money was 
made, and not a little lost, by those who made their way to these 
faraway gold fields. 

Alaska now has telegraphic communication with the rest of the 
world. It is possible that in the near future the railroad also will 
find its way into that cold region. 



II 



CHAPTER XXI 

RECENT EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY 

268. Annexation of Hawaii. In 1898 the Hawaiian Islands, 
by their own choice, became a part of the United States. These 
islands lie in the Pacific Ocean about two thousand seven hundred 
miles southwest of San Francisco. They are valuable chiefly for 
the production of sugar and other tropical crops. 

269. Spanish American War. We remember that Colum'Dus 
discovered Cuba in 1492, during his first voyage to America. As a 
result the island was governed by Spain for a period of four hun- 
dred and six years, or until 1898. 

The Cubans, becoming weary of Spanish rule, attempted to 
gain their independence. For a long time they were unsuccessful. 
They could not drive the Spaniards from the island, neither could 
the Spaniards fully conquer the Cubans. This struggle continued 
for many years. The final war lasted three years, from 1895 to 
1898. 

Some of the American people helped the Cubans, which made 
Spain angry with the United States. The Spanish people thought 
they could conquer the Cubans if the Americans would keep their 
hands off. 

270. Destruction of the Maine. On the evening of February 
15, 1898, the United States battle-ship Maine, while peacefully 
anchored in the harbor of Havana, was sunk by a dreadful ex- 
plosion. Two hundred and sixty-six American seamen were killed. 

It has never yet been positively settled what caused the ex- 
plosion. It may have resulted from an accident inside the ship, 

289 



290 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



or by the exploding of a torpedo outside. If the explosion was 
outside the ship, then some enemy was guilty of the awful crime. 
Some time after the war careful investigations were made by our 
government, and the evidence gathered seemed to show that the 

explosion was from the 
outside, though the mys- 
tery has never been really 
cleared up. 

271. Battle of Manila 
Bay. Soon after the de- 
struction of the Maine 
the United States de- 
clared war against Spain. 
At this time Commodore 
Dewey was in command 
of a fleet of American 
war-vessels stationed off 
the coast of Asia. He was 
ordered to sail to the 
Philippine Islands and 
attack the Spanish fleet 
there. On May 1, 1898, 
he found the Spanish 
ships in the harbor of 
Manila. He opened fire 
upon them and in a few 
hours' time destroyed the entire fleet. Every Spanish warship was 
sunk. Not one American was killed, nor was a single American 
ship injured. 

Later all of the Philippine Islands came into our possession as 
one of the results of this Spanish American War. 

Magellan on his famous voyage around the world discovered 
these islands in 1521. Thus they came under the Spanish rule, 




EDISON AT THE TIME OP HIS INVENTION 
OP THE INCANDESCENT LIGHT 



KECENT EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY 09 j 

and continued so for three hundred and seventy-seven years. They 
lie in the torrid zone and are therefore valuable for their tropical 
products. 

272. Cuba and Porto Rico. Another Spanish fleet was lying 
in the harbor of Santiago, Cuba. This also was destroyed by the 
Americans under the command of Admiral Sampson and Commo- 
dore Schley. Troops were sent by land against Santiago itself and 
the city soon surrendered. 

The American forces had landed in Porto Eico and were rapidly 
gaining possession of the island when the war closed. 

273. Republic of Cuba. Spain now gave up all claim to 
Cuba. Years of war had left the island in a very bad condition 
and the Cubans were not ready to govern themselves. So the 
United States kept control of the island for a while. General 
Wood, an American, was made military governor. 

The Americans did much good work in Cuba. They built new 
roads and put up telegraph lines. They found Havana in bad sani- 
tary condition and left her a clean and healthful city. They 
opened new schools and helped the people plan a new government. 
Then they left the Cubans to themselves. The island became a 
republic in June, 1901. 

In August, 1906, an insurrection broke out in Cuba, and as 
President Palma was unable to restore peace he resigned. Again 
the United States intervened, and once more an American, this time 
C. E. Magoon, was made governor of the island. 

The United States intends to withdraw from Cuba and allow its 
people to govern themselves as soon as they have grown calm enough 
to do so. A new president must first be elected, and our government 
will see to it that the election is fair and shows the will of the Cuban 
people. 

274. Trouble with. China. The war with Spain was no sooner 
at an end than help was needed by our citizens who were living 
in China. The Chinese believed that Great Britain, the United 



392 JUNIOE HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES 

States and other countries meant to take China from them, and 
a large society of people called Boxers planned to kill all the for- 
eigners in the country. Missionaries were , murdered and mission 
stations were burned, and even in the cities no foreigner's life was 
safe. Great Britain, Germany, France, Eussia and the United 
States all sent armies to China, and the Boxer uprising was quickly 
put down. 

275. Death of McKinley. During the Spanish American War 
William McKinley was President of the United States. In 1900 he 
was elected for a second term, with Theodore Eoosevelt as Vice 
President, but he had served less than a year when he was shot 
by an anarchist. His death, which soon followed, made Eoosevelt 
President. 

276. President Roosevelt. In 190-i the American people 
showed their approval of President Eoosevelt by electing him to 
serve four years more. 

277. Panama Canal. Our country is now a great World Power. 
Since the Civil War she has steadily grown and prospered, and the 
past few years have been full of improvements and inventions. 

One of the most important works she is now undertaking is the 
digging of a great ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. For 
a very long time people have thought a good deal about the value of 
a waterway across this isthmus, and years ago a company of French- 
men began the work of digging a canal to Join the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans. They were not able to carry out their plan, and in 
1902 sold us the rights to what work they had done. At that time 
Panama belonged to the South American republic of Colombia, but 
the little country has since become independent. She has given us 
permission to finish the canal, and it is hoped that in less than ten 
years ships will be able to sail from New York to San Francisco 
without going around Cape Horn. 

278. Ocean Cables. The first successful telegraphic cable laid 
across the Atlantic Ocean was completed in 1866. Many other such 



KECENT EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY 



293 



cables now lie at the bottom of the ocean between Europe and 
America. 

During the year 1903 the last section of the Pacific telegraph 
cable was laid across the Pacific Ocean. This cable extends from 
San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands, and from there to Wake 
Island — a small, lonely island in mid-ocean, 
which is uninhabited except by enough men 
to care for the telegraph station. From this 
island it extends to Guam, a small island 
which came into the possession of the 
United States in 1898, as a result of the 
Spanish American War. The last section 
connects Guam with the Philippines. For 
many years these islands had been connected 
by telegraph cable with the continent of 
Asia. 

These Pacific and Atlantic cables are con- 
nected with other cables in all parts of the 
world, so that telegraph messages may be 
sent to the uttermost parts of the earth as 
quickly as an electric current can carry it. 

279. Thomas A. Edison began 
his wonderful career as an in- 
ventor in the early days of the 
telephone, and some of the chief 
inventions of the times have been 
his. He invented the incandescent 
light which now takes the place 
of gas in so many homes and 
public buildings. We have him to 
thank for the phonograph which 
amuses us and is growing to be a 
help to business men as well. edison'S incandescent globe 




394 JUNIOR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

280. Around the "World. Let us look back six hundred years. 
Marco Polo has made the westward journey from the Pacific coast 
of Asia to his native city, Venice. In his book he describes the 
wonderful countries he has seen.* 

Two hundred years pass. Christopher Columbus, by reading 
that book, is fired with zeal to seek the countries described by Polo. 
The idea of Columbus is to move west across the Atlantic. He 
carries this idea to Spain. From Spain he crosses the Atlantic and 
discovers America, supposed by him to be the India of Polo. 

Following this come a hundred years of discoveries and explora- 
tions and Spanish settlements. Three hundred years of the six 
have passed, but there are no English settlements. 

The second three hundred years begin. Settlements are made 
first in Virginia and 'New England, then along the Atlantic slope. 
For another three hundred years the pioneer works his way slowly 
westward, ever westward, over tbe Alleghanies into and across the 
Mississippi Valley, over the Rockies and other highlands of the 
Pacific Coast. 

With the pioneer always and ever moves the spirit of Anglo- 
Saxon civilization. 

But the Pacific can no more stop this westward movement than 
could the Atlantic in the days of Columbus. Uncle Sam with four 
mighty strides quickly crosses the Pacific and plants his feet upon 
the very shores from which Polo began his homeward journey six 
hundred years before. 

"Westward the course of empire takes its way." 

•These countries are supposed to be Japan, China and perhaps the Philip- 
pine Islands. 



INDEX 



Acadia settled by French, 56; relin- 
quished to England, 232. 
Adams, John, elected President, 195. 
Africa, route of Portuguese to, 13, 

15. 
Alaska Purchase, 288. 
Albany, site of, visited by Henry 

Hudson, 97. 
Algeria, piracy of, 214; demands 

for tribute, 216; humbled, 217. 
Alleghany Mountains reached by 

English, 149. 
America, discovery of, 11, 23. 
Annawan captured, 93. 
Antietam, battle of, 360. 
Antillia, island of, 13. 
Anti-slavery sentiment in the North, 

219. 
Appomattox, surrender of Lee at, 

261. 
Argall, Captain, 65. 
Arizona, 241. 
Army of the Potomac, 259; review 

of, 267. 
Army of Northern Virginia, 260. 
Asia, trade with, 10. 
Astoria, American settlement at, 

240. 
Atlanta campaign, 258, 265. 
Atlantic cable, 292. 
Atlantic Ocean, islands of, 12. 

B 

Bahama Islands discovered, 23. 
Balboa, 32 ; discovery of the Pacific, 
32-35. 



Baltimore, Lord, 109; settles in 
Maryland, 110. 

Barbary States, 214; destruction of 
the Philadelphia by Decatur, 215; 
humbled, 217. 

Bell, Alexander, 226. 

Black Hawk War, 250. 

Bolivia, 46. 

Boone, Daniel, 199, 201. 

Booth assassinates Lincoln, 251. 

Boston, settled, 86; "tea party," 
166-168; port bill, 170. 

Boxer uprising, 292. 

Braddock, General, defeat of, 150, 
158. 

Bradford, William, in England and 
Holland, 71-73; Governor of Ply- 
mouth Colony, 78-79, 80, 85. 

Bragg, General, 258. 

British, see English. 

Bull Eun, battle of, 258. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 173. 

Burgoyne, General, surrender of, 
174, 179. 

Buena Vista, battle of, 229. 

C 

Cables, Atlantic and Pacific, 292. 

Cabot, John, 29; Sebastian, 29-31. 

Cahokia, meeting of Clark and In- 
dians at, 180, 181. 

California, territory relinquished by 
Mexico, 241, 280; dispute over 
admission to Union, 253, 254; 
gold found, 280; made a state, 
281; growth of San Francisco, 
286. 

Calverts in Maryland, 109-111. 



295 



296 



INDEX 



Canada, French in, 122; ceded to 
Great Britain, 232, 233. 

Cape Ann Colony (Salem), 86. 

Carolina, North and South, 117, 118. 

Cathay, 26. 

Catholics in Maryland, 109-111. 

Cavaliers in Virginia, 69. 

Champlain, 97, 122, 128. 

Charleston founded, 118. 

Charleston Harbor, first shot fired in 
Civil War, 252. 

Cherokee Indians, 202, 

Chickamauga, battle of, 258. 

China, visited by Polos, 12; Co- 
lumbus's belief he had reached it, 
26; Boxer uprising, 291. 

Cibola, Seven Cities of, 41. 

Cipango, 26. 

Civil War, causes, 252, 253; Fort 
Donelson, 256; Chickamauga, 258; 
Bull Run, 259; Antietam, Vicks- 
burg, 260; Five Forks, Peters- 
burg, Appomattox, 261 ; Atlanta 
campaign, 258, 265; grand review, 
267; Memorial Day, 271; recon- 
struction, 272. 

Clark, Captain, see Lewis and Clark. 

Clark, George Rogers, 177; at Kas- 
kaskia, 178; at Vincennes, 179, 
180; dealings with Indians, 181, 
182; Vincennes recaptured, 182, 
183. 

Clermont, first successful steamboat, 

901 900 

""-■•> "--• 

Colonies, see Spanish, English, 
Dutch and French in North 
America. 

Colorado, 241 ; becomes a state, 
284. 

Colorado, Grand Canyon of the, 42. 

Columbia River, named, 206; ex- 
plored by Lewis and Clark, 209. 

Columbus, Christopher, influence of 
Polo's book on, 12; birth, 14; in 
Lisbon, 15; in Spain, 19; receives 
aid from King and Queen of 
Spain, 21; first voyage, 21-23; 
in Cuba and Haiti, returns to 
Spain, 26; other voyages, 27, 28. 



Committee of Correspondence, 191. 

Committee of Safety prepares for 
war, 170. 

Compass, Mariner's, 11; variation ill 
of needle, 21. \\ 

Compromise, Missouri, 253, 254. 

Concord, fight at, 172. 

Confederate States, 255, 256; read- 
mission to Union, 273. 

Connecticut, 90. 

Cook, Captain, 239. 

Constitution, frigate, 211, 212. 

Constitution of the United States 
framed, 147. 

Continental Army, 160, 161. 

Continental Congress, call of first, 
191. 

Copernicus and his teachings, 16-18. 

Cornwallis, Lord, surrender of, 174. 

Coronado captures Cibola, 41; dis- 
covers Grand Canyon of the Colo- 
rado, 42. 

Cortez in Mexico, 36-38. 

Cotton gin, 218, 219. 

Cotton-raising in the South, 219. 

Cottonseed oil, 220. 

Cuba, discovery of, 26; struggle for 
independence, 289; made as re- 
public, 291. 

D 

Davis, Jefferson, made President of 
Confederate States, 256. 

Decatur, Stephen, destroys the Phila- 
delphia, 215; in the War of 1812, 
216; humbles Barbary States, 217. 

Declaration of Independence drafted, 
191, 192. 

Delaware settled, 116. 

Delaware, Lord, saves Jamestown 
settlers, 63. 

Denver, 284. 

Detroit in hands of British, 178. 

De Soto, Governor of Florida, 43; 
discovers the Mississippi, 45. 

Dewey, Commodore, at Manila, 290. 

Dinwiddle, Governor, message to 
French, 157. 

Dixon, see Mason and Dixon. 



INDEX 



297 



Donelson, Fort, 256. 

Douglas, S. A., debates with Lin- 
coln, 250, 251. 

Drake, Sir Francis, in Virginia, 57; 
on the Pacific, 239. 

Duluth saves Father Hennepin, 132. 

Duquesne, Fort, 150. 

Dutch in North America, settlement 
of New Netherland, 94 ; fur trade, 
101, 102 ; on Hudson, Delaware 
and Connecticut rivers, 102, 103; 
Manhattan, 103. 

Dutch East India Company, 101, 
102. 

Dutch West India Company, 102. 

E 

Early, General, 261. 

Earth, shape, nature and movements 
of, 16-18. 

Edison, Thomas A., 293. 

Egypt, 7. 

Electricity, Dr. Franklin's experi- 
ments in, 144-146; use to-day, 
224-227. 

Electric machine, 143, 144. 

Emigration, western, 278,' 279. 

Endicott, Governor, 86. 

English in North America, Cabots, 
29; indifference of England, 56; 
first attempts at colonization, 56- 
58; Jamestown settled, 58-63; 
Plymouth colony founded, 75-86; 
Massachusetts Bay colony, Boston 
and Salem, 86; Providence found- 
ed, 89; first Connecticut towns, 
90; Hudson's explorations under 
English flag, 94, 97; claim to 
Mississippi Valley, 149; in the 
far North, 231; result of Queen 
Anne's War, 232; Oregon Coun- 
try, 238, 239. 

Ericsson, John, 222. 

Express, Pony, 282. 

F 

Farragut, Admiral, 256. 
Ferdinand, King of Spain, 19. 
Fitch, John, 221. 



Five Forks, battle of, 261. 

Flag, National, 185, 186. 

Florida, discovered, 38; first settle- 
ment, 39; under De Soto, 43; 
Spanish territory, 234, 235; pur- 
chased by the United States, 236. 

Fort Crfivecoeur, built, 130; deserted, 
131. 

Fort Donelson taken, 256. 

Fort Duquesne (Pitt), 150. 

Fort Frontenac, built by French, 
128; destroyed, 150. 

Fort Orange built, 102. 

Fort St. Louis built, 135. 

Fort Ticonderoga attacked, 150. 

Franklin, Benjamin, youth, 136-140; 
writings, 140; marriage, 141; 
public works, 142, 143; inventions 
and experiments, 143-146; signs 
Declaration of Independence, 146; 
his part in the Constitution, 147; 
his part in French and Indian 
War, 150. 

Franklin, State of, 202. 

Fremont, explorations of, 279, 280. 

French in North America, first set- 
tlement, 56; Champlain, 97, 122, 
128; Quebec and Montreal 
founded, 122; trading-posts and 
missionary stations, 123, 124; 
Marquette and Joliet, 124-128; 
^LaSalle, Tonty and Hennepin, 
128-135; in Ohio Valley, 149; 
under control of ' ' Long Knives, ' ' 
179; claims in 1700, 231; result 
of Queen Anne's War, 232; dis- 
appearance of New France, 233; 
in Louisiana, 235; Louisiana sold 
to United States, 236. 

French and Indian War, causes, 
149; Braddock's defeat, loss of 
forts, 150; Washington's part, 
156, 157; results, 233. 

Frontenac, Governor, with LaSaUe 
builds fort, 128, 129. 

Fruit-raising in the West, 285. 

Fugitive Slave Law, 254. 

Fulton, Eobert, builds Clermont, 222. 



298 



INDEX 



G 

Gadsden Purchase, 241. 

Galileo, teachings of, 18. 

Genoa, commerce of, 10; birthplace 

of Columbus, 14; birthplace of 

John Cabot, 29. 
Georgia, settled, 118-121; secession 

of, 256; in the Civil War, 258, 

259. 
Germans, 9. 

German Protestants in Georgia, 121. 
Gettysburg, battle of, 260. 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 56, 57. 
Gold found in California, 280; in 

Colorado, 284; in Alaska, 288. 
Grant, General, at Vicksburg, 257, 

260; at Appomattox, 261; reviews 

troops, 267. 
Gray, Captain, names Columbia 

River, 206. 
Greece, 7. 



most civilized, 46; half -civilized 
and savage tribes, 47; beliefs and 
life, 47-55; in Virginia, 69; in 
New England, 79, 80; in Pennsyl 
vania, 114-116; Iroquois, 122 
132; Illinois, 124, 135, 250 ; Sioux, 
131; at Cahokia, 180, 181; in 
Revolutionary War, 177, 180-182 
in Kentucky, 198, 201, 243; in 
Tennessee, 202, 204; in "Wisconsin, 
250; in the West, 283, 286; in 
Oregon, 287. 

Indian missionaries, 278. 

Indian Wars, in Virginia, 69; in 
New England, 90-93 ; with French, 
150-157; in the West, 287. 

Iroquois, 122, 132. 

Irrigation in the West, 281. 

Isabella, settlement of, 28. 

Isabella, Queen of Spain, 19, 21. 

Italian cities, 10, 29. 



Hail Columbia! written, 197. 
Haiti, 26-28. 
Half-Moon, The, 95. 
Hawaii annexed, 289. 
Hennepin, Father, 131, 132. 
Henry of Portugal, 13, 15, 19. 
Hispaniola, 26. 

Hood, General, 258, 259, 265. 
Hooker, Thomas, 90. 
Hudson, Henry, explorations of, 94- 
97. 



Idaho, 279. 

Illinois, French in, 126-128, 130, 

132, 133; made state, 183. 
Illinois Indians, 124, 135, 250. 
Impressment of sailors, 210. 
India, efforts to reach, 12, 13, 15; 

route to, 63, 94. 
Indiana, 183. 
Independence, Declaration of, 191, 

192. 
Indians, named by Columbus, 26; 

in Mexico, 36; their cities, 41; 



Jamestown, settled, 58; first condi- 
tion of colony, 60; newcomers, 
61; relic of, 62; success, 63. 

Japan, 12, 26. 

Jefferson, Thomas, early life, 189, 
190; marriage, 190; his part in 
Declaration of Independence, 191, 
192; work for Virginia, 192, 193; 
in France, 194; as Secretary of 
State, 194, 195; as President of 
the United States, 195; deals with 
Barbary States, 195; Louisiana 
purchased, 195, 196; last days, 
197, 198. 

.Jersey, see New Jersey. 

Johnston, General, 258, 261. 

Joliet, 124-126. 

K 

Kansas-Nebraska bill, 255. 

Kaskaskia taken, 178, 179. 

Kentucky, country of, 177; discov- 
ered by Boone, 199; settled, 200. 

Key, Francis Scott, writes Star- 
Spangled Banner, 213. 



INDEX 



29l> 



King Philip 's War, 91-93, 
King "William's War, results of, 232. 
King's Mountainj defeat of British 
at, 202. 



La Salle, Eobert de, on the Great 
Lakes, 129; in Illinois, 130; de- 
struction of Crfeveoeur, 131 ; on the 
Mississippi, 133-135; builds Fort 
St, Louis, 135. 

Lee, General, at Gettysburg, 260* at 
Appomattox, 261. 

Lewis and Clark, expedition of, 206- 
209. 

Leyden jar, 144. 

Lexington, battle of, 171, 

Lincoln, Abraham, forefathers of, 
242-244; home, 244; in Indiana, 
245-249; in Illinois, 249; debates 
with Douglas, 250; as President 
of the United States, 251. 

Llama, the, 46. 

Long's exploration, 276, 277. 

Louisburg taken, 150, 

Louisiana Purchase, 195, 196, 236. 

M 

McClellan, General, 259. 

McKinley, death of, 292. 

Maine admitted, 254. 

Maine, battleship, 289. 

Manila, Battle of, 290, 

Marco Polo, see Polo; book of, 12. 

Marcos, Fray, 41. 

Mariner's compass, 11. 

Marion, Francis, in the KeTolution- 
ary War, 175. 

Marquette, Father, on the Missis- 
sippi, 124-126; missionary to Illi- 
nois Indians, 126-128, 

Maryland, settlement of, 109-111; in 
the Civil War, 260. 

Mason and Dixon Line, 113. 

Massachusetts, first settlements in, 
75-86; in the Revolutionary War, 
166-173. 

Meade, General, 261. 



Mediterranean, countries of the, 7-9, 
15; Decatur on the, 215, 217. 

Memorial Day, 271. 

Mexico, under Cortez, 36-38; war 
with, 229, 240, 241. 

Minute Men, 170-172. 

Missionaries to Indians, French, 
123, 124, 126-128; in the West, 
278. 

^lississippi River discovered, by De 
Soto, 44; by French, 122-126. 

Mississippi Valley, French explora- 
tions in, 122-135; conflicting 
claims of English and France, 
149, 230; claims of Spain, 233; 
friction between United States 
and Spain, 234; Louisiana terri- 
tory, 235; in Civil War, 256. 

Missouri Compromise, 253, 254. 

Modoc Indians, trouble with, 287. 

Montana, 279. 

Montcalm, General, put in command 
of French army, 150; death, 152. 

Montezuma and Cortez, 36-38. 

Montreal founded, 122. 

Mormons in the West, 281. 

Morse telegraph code, 224. 

Morse, Samuel F. B., interest in 
electricity, 224; first experiments, 
225; sjucoess, 226. 

N 

Narvaez, expedition to Florida, 40. 

National Hymn, written, 227. 

Nevada, 241. 

New England, settlement of Ply- 
mouth, 75-86; Massachusetts Bay 
colony, 86; Rhode Island, 89; 
Connecticut, 90; Indians of, 79, 
80; Indian wars, 90-93. 

New Jersey settled by Quakers, 112. 

New Mexico, attempts to settle, 42, 
43; secured by the United States, 
241. 

New York settled by Dutch, 102; 
taken by English, 103. 

North America, discovered, 29; 
Spanish exploration and settle- 
ment, 32-45; English settlements. 



300 



INDEX 



50-69, 73-90, 109, 121 ; the Dutch, 
94-108; the French in the North 
and West, 97, 122-135. 
North Carolina settled, 117, 118; 
secession of 256. 

O 

Ocean cables, 292, 293. 
Oglethorpe, James, in England, 119; 

in Georgia, 119-121. 
Ohio, 183. 

Ohio Valley, French in, 149. 
Oregon country, 231, 233, 237; 

claimed by the United States, 

239, 240, 254; emigration to, 278, 

279. 

P 

Pacific cable, 292. 

Pacific Ocean discovered, 32-35; 
reached by Lewis and Clark, 209. 

Pacific slope, riches of, 285. 

Palestine, 7. 

Palos, port of, 21, 26. 

Panama Canal, 292. 

Perm, William, youth, 111; in New 
Jersey, 112, 113; in Pennsylvania. 
113-116. 

Pennsylvania settled, 113-116. 

Peru, 35, 43, 46. 

Petersburg, battle of, 261. 

Philadelphia founded, 113, 114. 

Philippine Islands, 290. 

Philip's War, King, 91-93. 

Pike, Z, M., explorations of, 276. 

Pilgrims, in England, 71, 72; in 
Holland, 73; in America, 73-76. 

Pinzon brothers with Columbus, 21, 
24. 

Pizarro, 35. 

Plymouth, founding of colony, 76; 
Indian friends, 79, 80; first 
Thanksgiving Day, 81; new- 
comers, 84; division of land, 85;. 
growth, 86; in King Philip's 
War, 92. 

Pocahontas, rescues Smith, 63; aids 
colony, 64; taken prisoner, 65; 
marriage, 66; in England, 67, 68. 



Polo family, 11, 12; in Cathay 
(China) and Cipango (Japan), 
26. 

Ponce de Leon, with Columbus, 38; 
in Florida, 38, 39. 

Porto Rico, expedition to, 38; in 
Spanish American War, 291. 

Portuguese route to Africa, 15. 

Powhatan and the English, 63-65, 
68. 

Presidents of the United States 
since the Civil War, 272. 

Prima Vista, 29. 

Printing-press, 10. 

Prisons in England, 118, 119. 

Progress since Civil War, 273. 

Puritans in England, 70-72; in Hol- 
land, 73; in New England, 73-76; 
our debt to them, 86, 87; in 
Maryland, 111. 

Q 

Quakers, in New Jersey, 112; in 
Pennsylvania, 113. 

Quebec founded, 122 ; taken by Brit- 
ish, 150-152. 

Queen Anne's War, 232. 

Queen of Spain, Isabella, 19, 21. 

Quivira, 42. 

B 

Railroads, first, 222-224; in the 
West, 284, 285. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 57, 58. 

Randolph, John, 68. 

Republican victory in 1860, 255. 

Revere, Paul, 170. 

Revolutionary War, Washington in 
the, 160-162; taxes, 164; Stamp 
Act, 165; Boston tea-party, 166- 
168; Boston port bill, 170; battle 
of Lexington, 171, 172; battle of 
Bunker Hill, 173; surrender of 
British at Saratoga and at York- 
town, 174; Marion's men, 175; 
Kaskaskia captured, 178, 179; 
Vincennes captured, 179, 180, 182, 
183; close of war in Northwest, 



INDEX 



301 



183; Declaration of Independence 

written, 191, 192 ; Virginia in the 

war, 193, 194; results, 233, 234. 
Ehode Island settled, 90. 
Eichmond, capital of Confederate 

States, 256. 
Rio Grande, western boundary of 

Texas, 240. 
Eoanoke, lost colony of, 57, 58; 

John Randolph of, 68. 
EoLertson, James, 202, 203. 
Eobinson, John, 73, 74. 
Eolfe, John, 66, 68; Thomas, 68. 
Eoman Catholics in Maryland, 109- 

111. 
Eome in the world 's history, 8. 
Eoosevelt, Theodore, 292. 
Eoseerans, General, 258. 
Eoundheads, 70. 
Eussia, trade between England and, 

31; Alaska purchased from, 288. 

S 
St. Augustine founded, 39. 
St. Joseph Eiver, Fort Miami on 

the, 130. 
St. Lawrence Eiver, French on the, 

122. 
St. Louis, Fort, 135. 
St. Louis, Lewis and Clark start 

from, 207. 
Salem founded, 86. 
Sampson, Admiral, 191. 
San Salvador, 24. 
Santa Anna, General, 229. 
Santa Fe founded, 42. 
Santa Maria, the, 21, 26. 
Santiago, surrender of, 291. 
Saratoga, British defeated at, 174. 
Savannah, founded, 119-121; taken, 

251. 
Savannah, the, 222. 
Schley, Commodore, 291. 
Schools, Public, in the United 

States, 87. 
Scotch in North Carolina, 118; in 

Georgia, 121. 
Scott, General, 229. 
Secession of Southern States, 251. 



Separatists, 71. 

Seven Cities, isiand of, 12, 13; of 
Cibola. 

Seven Years' War, see French and 
Indian War. 

Sevier, John, 201, 202. 

Sharpsburg, battle of, 260. 

Sheridan, General, 261, 262. 

Sherman, General, 258, 259, 261, 
265. 

Sioux Indians, 131, 287. 

Slavery in the United States, 252, 
253. 

Smith, John, 60, 61, 63, 67. 

South Carolina settled, 117, 118; 
secession of, 256. 

South America, discovery by Co- 
lumbus, 28; Sebastian Cabot in, 
30. 

Southampton, Pilgrims sail from, 
74. 

South, Troubles in the, after Civil 
War, 273. 

Southern colonies, 109-111, 117-121. 

South Pass, 277. 

Spanish in North America, Columbus 
at San Salvador, 24; discovery of 
Cuba and Haiti, 26; Balboa in 
Santo Domingo, 32-35; Cortez in 
Mexico, 36-38; Ponce de Leon in 
Porto Eico and Florida, 38, 39; 
expedition of Narvaez, 40 ; Cabeza 
de Vaca on the continent, 40, 41 ; 
Coronado's march, 41, 42; settle- 
ment of New Mexico, 43; Missis- 
sippi discovered by De Soto, 43- 
45; Spanish settlements, 56; 
Spanish claims, 231-234, 238. 

Spanish American War, 289-291. 

Speedwell, the, 73, 74. 

Stamp Act, 165, 166, 

Standish, Miles, 86. 

Star-Spangled Banner, writing of, 
213. 

State Church in England, 70. 

Steam engine, 220, 221. 

Steamboats, 221, 222. 

Stephens, A. H., 256. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 103-108. 



302 



INDEX 



Swedes in Pennsylvania, 714; in 
Delaware. 116. 



Taxation of colonies, 164-166. 

Taylor, General, 229. 

Tea, tax on, 166. 

Telephone, invention of, 226. 

Telegraph, invention of, 224-226; in 
West, 283. 

Tennessee, beginnings of, 198; made 
a state, 202-204; secession of, 
256; in Civil War, 257, 258. 

Texas wins independence from 
Spain, 237; annexation of, 238; 
boundary of, 240; admission to 
Union, 253, 254; readmitted, 273. 

Thanksgiving Day, the first, 81. 

Thomas, General George H., 258. 

Tieonderoga, attack on, 150. 

Tonty, Henri di, 129, 133, 

Travel in the West, 282. 

Treaty, between Pilgrims and In- 
dians, 80; between Penn and 
Indians, 114-116; between Clark 
and Indians, 180, 181; of Utrecht, 
232; of Paris, (first) 233, 
(second) 234; with Spain, 237, 
239; with England, 240; with. 
Mexico, 241. 

Tripoli, trouble with, 214; the Phila- 
delphia in the harbor of, 215; 
humbled, 217. 

Tunis, piracy of, 214; humbled, 217. 

U 

Underground railroad, 254. 
Union Pacific Eailroad, 284. 
United States, first appearance on 
map, 234; boundaries settled, 241. 
Utah, Mormons in, 241. 



Vincennes captured, 179, 180. 

Virginia, attempts to settle, 57, 58; 
Jamestown, 58-63; Indians in, 61, 
62, 69; Cavaliers in, 69; in Revo- 
lutionary War, 194; secession, 
256; in Civil War, 260, 261. 
W 

Wompanoags, their friendship for 
Pilgrims, 80 ; war against settlers, 
90-92. 

War of 1812, causes, 210; on the 
sea, 210, 211, 216; Washington 
taken, 213. 

Wars, Indian, 69, 90-93, 287, 288; 
French and Indian, 150-152; 
Revolutionary, 160-162, 170-183; 
of 1812, 210-217; Mexican, 229, 
230, 240, 241; Civil, 256-267 j 
Spanish American, 289-291. 

Washington, George, 149; boyhood, 
153-155; made major, 155; visits 
French forts, 156; Braddock's 
aide, 157; at Fort Duquesne, 158, 
159 ; marriage, 159 ; commander- 
in-chief of army, 160-162 ; Presi- 
dent of the United States, 162, 
163. 

Washington state, 279. 

Wautauga settlements, 198, 202. 

West settled, 278, 279; overland 
travel and express service, 282; 
telegraph service, 283; railroads, 
284, 285; irrigation, 285. 

Whitney, Eli, 218. 

Williams, Eoger, 89, 90. 

Williamsburg made capital of Vir- 
ginia, 62. 

Winthrop, John, 78, 79. 

Wolfe, General, made commnnder of 
English forces, 150; death, 152. 

Wyoming, 279. 



Vaca, Cabeza de, 40, 41. 

Vail, Alfred, 225. 

Venice, commerce of, 10, 11; home 

of Cabots, 29. 
Vicksburg, surrender of, 259, 260. 



York, Duke of. 111, 112. 
Yorktown, surrender of British at, 
174. 

Z 
Zuni Indians, 41. 



INDEX 303 

POEMS AND PROSE SELECTIONS AND THEIR AUTHORS 



America, 227. 

America, Discovery of, 24. 

Battle Hymn of the Republic, 264. 

Beer Story, The, 138. 

Blue and the Gray, The, 271. 

Boston Tea Party, The, 168. 

Breadwinners' Ballad, 274. 

Bryant, William Cullen. 

Byers, I. H, M., 267. 

Catskill Mountains, A Scene in the, 

98. 
Finch, Francis M., 271. 
Flower of Liberty, The, 187. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 138, 140. 
Hail, Columbia! 197. 
Hiawatha 's Sailing, 51. 
Harte, Bret, 268. 
Hemans, Felicia, 77. 
Holmes, 0. W., 172, 187, 212. 
Howe, Julia Ward, 264. 
Irving, Washington, 98, 103. 



Key, Francis Scott, 213. 

Longfellow, H. W., 51, 147. 

Mclntyre, Eobert. 

Marion's Men, Song of, 175. 

Murphy, H. Etta, 168. 

Old Ironsides, 212. 

Pilgrim Fathers, Landing of the, 77. 

Poor Richard's Maxims, 140. 

Read, T. Buchanan, 262. 

Republic, The, 147. 

Second Review of the Grand Army, 

A, 268. 
Sheridan's Ride, 262. 
Sherman's March to the Sea, 266. 
Smith, S. F., 227. 
Star-Spangled Banner, The, 213. 
Stuyvesant, Peter, The Last Dutch 

Governor, 103. 
Tarbox, Increase, 81. 
Thanksgiving, The First, 81. 
Trowbridge, J. S., 24. 



dec; 30 ]Sd: 



